Hiyas to all!

We have the next chapter of the renamed 'THROUGH THE EYES OF A TYRANT: HAZARDS TALE' here and hopefully it will be as good, if not better, then the previous.

Wanna thank my three last reviewers for their words cheers a lot!

Scorpu'la: thanks a lot for the good review, I'm glad this remake has your approval and that you like the characters thoughts, had to work hard to get them right so thanks a lot!

Fireo: I'm glad its not just me that likes a free tyrant, thanks a lot for the review and I hope you come to love Hazard as much as I do J

B Slick: Cheers! I hope that this chapter is as good as the last for you.

Warnings!

As before this is an 'M' I think that's the highest ranking?

Anyway yeah it has adult themes, lots of blood and gore (well what resi evil wouldn't have that!) and swearing so please no reading this if your not mature enough for that!

Ok warnings over enjoy the fic!

ACT 2: FINDING A PLACE IN THIS NIGHTMARE WORLD.

Chapter 7.

Stage right, the S.T.A.R.S

Beyond the darkness and horrors of the Arkley Mountains a bastion of civilisation rested in the mountains shadow, Raccoon City, a home to thousands of humans all ignorant of the nightmares that waited in the shadows around their fair city.

This city like all human settlements had its secrets, most were mere petty corruption of the established leadership and the hidden rule of the mobs.

But Raccoon City was unique in that its secrets were of an even more horrible reality, the reality that the demons and evils of human imagination really did exist, hiding in the sewers below their city and the forests surrounding them.

But where there is evil there is also heroes, men and women of incredible valour who have no idea of the trials ahead, of the terrors that will tear at their sanity as well as their flesh.

But like all heroes the spirit and will is stronger then mere bullet and blade, and these heroes will need all their courage when faced with the darkness that their own kind created.

The darkness of the Umbrella corporation.

Chris Redfield groaned in agony and pulled a pillow tight around his ears as his doorbells shrilling cry pounded in his aching head.

"Go away!" He grumbled sleepily, though the words were just a muffled noise outside his shield of pillow.

The ringing continued and tries as he might Chris could not ignore the persistent noise even with his ears filled with pillow in a vain attempt to block out the noise.

With a longsuffering moan Chris warily threw the pillow away and focused his bleary eyesight at his bedside clock, the neon red seemed almost mocking as it displayed '7:55'am.

"I don't get paid enough for this" He grumbled before swinging his legs off the bed and resting them on the floor, sitting up he rubbed as his temples trying to soothe the dull ache there that the constant 'ringing' wasn't helping!

"All right, ALL RIGHT! I'M UP!" Chris yelled towards the door as he stood up, his body swayed dangerously and the man took a few moments fighting off the effects of his hangover.

"Knew I shouldn't have had that extra round with Barry" Chris muttered feeling sorry for himself, he cheered up slightly as he thought of the verbal lashing Barry would get from his wife when he woke up hangover.

'Sod deserves it' Chris chuckled at the image of Barry throwing up with his wife yelling at him.

Moving over to the door, and the still ringing doorbell, Chris looked into his spyhole strangely not surprised at the auburn haired woman who was on the other side of the door finger pressed firmly against the door bell.

"Do you know what fucking time it is?" Chris asked testily through the door, the woman just smirked and stuck her tongue out at the spyglass.

With a hopeless sigh Chris pulled back the bolts of his door and opened it a crack peering at the young woman who looked up at him with an expression of serene innocence.

"Sleep well?" Jill Valentine asked, her sapphire eyes shining with mirth, Chris could tell she was fighting not to laugh.

"Like a baby" he answered moodily, she raised an eyebrow in amusement and tapped a foot patiently.

Chris sighed and opened the door for her and without further ado the woman walked past him eyeing his 'disorganised' room amusedly.

Chris couldn't help but admire her cute little ass as she walked past; he turned back to the door shutting it then examining his friend more carefully.

Jill Valentine was, as ever; beautiful to look at, not surprisingly she was already in uniform, her trousers and tight vest outlining her slim form perfectly. Chris's eyes roved over the woman's body appreciatively, especially as they rested for a moment on her pert breasts that strained against the material covering them.

He gazed upon her face feeling, not for the first time, his heart skip a beat at her gorgeous features. Full lips that seemed to be always curved into an impish smile, smooth milky white skin, a cute little nose and beautiful blue eyes. The cap that leaned over one ear with her brown auburn hair cut short and exposing her delicious neck only heightened her beauty.

'Get a grip man! I'm gonna get hard right in front of her if I keep these thoughts up'

Chris reined himself in as Jill took a seat on the edge of his bed, arms and body leaning back as she almost laid herself across Chris's bed. He gritted his teeth and almost swore, damn she knew how to tease him.

'The question is does she know she does it' Chris wondered, looking into her sparkling eyes and the small smile she wore he guessed she did.

"So why you waking me up this early Jill? I told you before I'm not going to that fancy dress party this early," he said staring pointedly at her uniform.

Jill laughed pleasantly and tilted her head to one side eyeing him mischievously, "Shame because I think you'd be the man of the party if you went in your current costume," She said grinning at his T-shirt and boxers.

Chris smiled and raised his arms in a beckoning gesture, "Hey all you have to do is ask and you can see much more of this get up"

Jill smiled; "Ill consider it" She sounded like she really was.

Chris grinned then turned his attention to the clothes covering the floor; he began to sort through them looking for his uniform.

"So is this just a social call or is there another reason I'm awake this early?"

Jill eyed him from her sitting position; she crossed her legs and looked serious now.

"Wesker wants all stars members in the office now, no matter how much they've had to drink, he said"

Chris winced and eyed Jill in annoyance, "It's a Sunday Jill, our day off you know? Me and Barry had every right to get pissed regardless of what Wesker thinks"

Jill gave him a sympathetic smile, "Unofficially your day off Chris, you know on emergencies stars are on call twenty four, seven. And Wesker did say this was an emergency"

Chris tugged his jeans on, falling over in the process, "So what's the emergency then?" he asked from the floor as he did up the zip.

"Wouldn't say, but you know Wesker, he doesn't play jokes, if he says its serious its serious" She answered; she noticed him looking around in confusion and handed him his shirt.

"Cheers, everyone else 'invited'?"

"Barry's already there and, no offence, he looks just as crap as you"

Chris smiled, "You're so honest"

"I try" She shot back with a grin, Chris noticed how white her small teeth were.

He coughed distractedly, "Question how come you're so bright eyed this early?"

Jill smiled and folded her hands in her lap, "Because I'm a good girl who goes to bed on time"

Noticing Chris's sceptical look she laughed and spoke more seriously, "Wesker told me yesterday about the meeting and knowing you wouldn't be awake I decided to get up early for you"

Chris smiled earnestly, "Thanks Jill, where would I be without you for a wake up call?" He said as he buckled on his belt and gun.

She chuckled, "Still in bed, shall we?" she rose to her feet heading for the door and opening it for him, Chris quickly grabbed his keys and followed her.

"After you" Chris offered with a sweep of his arm, Jill smirked and walked ahead with her nose in the air regally. Chris locked his door and hurried after her.

No way was he going to let an ass that good get out of his sight.

At the R.P.D things were chaotic as usual as Jill and Chris pulled up in her car, it seemed crime didn't rest even this early in the morning.

Getting out the passenger side Chris looked up at the massive station admiring the ancient building, he doubted any other city police force had as good looking a station.

"Come on Chris you've only seen it a hundred times" Jill teased as she locked her car. Giving him a shove she got them moving to the main doors.

"Hey face it we got the best deal when it comes to workplaces" Chris said lightly, Jill just shook her head in amusement.

They stopped as two street cops cut their path dragging someone between them, the leather wearing thug they held was giving the two men a tough job.

They winced as he suddenly lunged for the cop to his right, head butting him fiercely and dropping him like a stone. He swept the other ones feet with a kick then tried to escape in Jill and Chris's direction.

"Yeah best deal" Jill said humourly before stepping into the crooks path, he tried to bowl her out of the way but she sprang to his side and lashed out with a swift kick to his legs. The criminal grunted in pain and stumbled but didn't drop, however, Chris leapt forward taking advantage of the criminal's distraction and floored him with a quick punch to his face, the criminals nose broke with an audible crunch and he fell to the ground out cold.

Rubbing his hand Chris nodded amiably at the two cops who quickly hauled their charge to his feet and frog-marched him towards the station.

Jill watched them go then looked at Chris in concern but he grinned and blew on his hand proudly, "Nothing like a good ass kicking to wake someone up"

Inside the stations main hall the two STARS looked around in confusion at the unusual amount of motion in the room, uniformed cops and smartly dressed detectives and sergeants dashed about bellowing orders or being bellowed at.

The lobby was more packed then the two STARS had ever seen, people were typing furiously at the reception and several officers were yelling into phones as orderlies and staff dashed about under the officers orders.

Chris grabbed a passing cop; a young fresh faced rookie by the look of him, and asked him what was going on.

"You not watched the news this morning sir? There's some kind of cannibal gang loose in the forests attacking the hikers and caravans up there" He blurted in excitement.

"Cannibals?" Jill questioned.

"Yeah! Its got everyone on edge miss, the publics in uproar and the mayors close to ordering a quarantine on the city"

Chris and Jill exchanged glances, they both were thinking the same thing, perhaps this is what Wesker wanted them for?

"Surely that's going a bit far? Quarantine for some crazed gang?" Jill said in confusion.

The rookie shook his head, he looked suddenly sick as if he remembered something he hadn't wanted to, "Its serious though miss, I've seen some of the photos of the victims, they'd been torn apart, whole families in fact, little kids too"

Chris and Jill exchanged another worried look before Chris let the cop go.

"Ok thanks for the info kid" Chris said patting the rookie on the shoulder, the young man nodded then hurried off.

"I think we should find out what Weskers got to say" Chris said to Jill. She nodded and the two STARS hurried to their own offices.

They reached the second floor stairs when they were met by Barry, the big man waved at them from the top and the two quickly climbed up to him.

"Glad you two got here at last, everyone's itching to get this briefing started" Barry said tensely.

Chris shook the hulking STARS members' hand in greeting then examined his friend closely.

Barry was as tall as Chris himself who was just over six feet, but the older man was far bulkier then Chris was. Although some may think him as a fat old man they'd soon be proved wrong, Barry contained a lot of muscle in his body and could take even more punishment then Chris, and he had been Airforce trained.

The older man was dressed in his uniform of brown trousers and white shirt with the STARS emblems imprinted on the shoulders; he was also wearing his thick armoured vest that was a dull red.

Barry's huge Magnum was already strapped at his side and Chris noticed that the big man kept his hand close to it, a sure sign of agitation.

This confused Chris, Barry was one the most easy going men he knew, he was respected by all the STARS members for his loyalty and friendship and especially of his devotion to his wife and two daughters.

'Something serious must be going on for Barry to be unnerved' Chris mused.

"What's going on Barry?" Jill asked, it seemed she too noticed the signs.

"Lets get to the office then we'll all be brought up to speed" Barry said firmly before leading the way, both growing increasingly uneasy the two followed him.

At the STARS office the three walked in noticing everyone start as they entered the room then slowly relax, both the members of Bravo and Alpha team where here.

"Chris, glad you could make it" Enrico, captain of Bravo team, said sternly. Chris nodded at the older man examining him carefully.

Enrico was around the same age of Barry, of similar build except for Barry was probably stronger, his skin looked pale and waxy, and his face, with his short moustache, was set into a determined scowl.

"Likewise Enrico, so what's going on?"

Enrico shook his head noncommittally, "Can't say Chris, take a seat, Wesker should be here soon he'll explain it all"

Chris frowned, Enrico wasn't usually so tight-lipped. He did what he was told though and leaned against his desk beside Joseph and Forest.

The other member of Alpha team, Joseph, was impatiently fingering his custom shotgun, the young man was the youngest member of Alpha team and was known for being headstrong, yet he was a formidable cop and his mechanical expertise was well respected among the group.

The other man lounging against Chris's desk was shorter then he but well muscled with tattoos covering his bare arms, Forest was a member of Bravo team and although the same age as Chris he looked much younger with a carefree grin spread across his face. At the moment he was watching his surroundings with amusement uncaring of the chaos of the situation but rather seeming to be enjoying it.

A sniper rifle was laid carefully across Forest's lap and the man was stroking it as if it were a favoured pet, Chris was once again reminded that Forest was an expert in his deadly craft.

"Know what's going on?" Joseph asked quietly, his eyes fixed on some point on the wall ahead.

Chris shook his head, Forest eyed the two of them then gave his bandanna wearing friend a punch on the arm over Chris's back.

"Cheer up you sod, you look like you just got bitch slapped by your girlfriend" He joked lightly.

Joseph glanced at him momentarily before looking back into the distance; Forest shrugged then met Chris's gaze quizzically.

"Surely you've heard something mate?"

Chris shrugged, "Just some news from a rookie in the reception, something about cannibal gangs"

Forest nodded thoughtfully, "Same as, seems the higher ups have all got their panties in a twist about it, though I can understand, fucking cannibals? I thought rapists and murderers was the worse we had here"

"Hey you'd be surprised what people can do Forest" Chris said, the sniper shook his head sorrowfully muttering "Ain't that fucking right" to himself.

Chris stood up leaving the two to their thoughts and looking around for Jill, he found her talking to Rebecca, the youngest member of Bravo team.

He watched the young girl closely; Rebecca was only nineteen but had quickly risen through the ranks and been placed on the Bravo team when its old medic had retired. Some people voiced rumours that the girl had 'done some favours' to the officers to promote her but after talking to the girl, and even looking at her, he doubted it.

Although she had only been with Bravo team a few months she had proven she was an exceptional medic and was a well-trained combatant too, she was disciplined but also quiet and shy though she had acted as the voice of reason among Bravo teams many squabbles and spats.

She was tiny it seemed, barely five foot seven and with a delicate frame, 'petite' he supposed. Her hair was a light hazel and cut short exposing a delicate neck and shoulders, her eyes were youthful and brown coloured and her features had a teenage 'prettiness' to her.

Chris snorted at his evaluation, truth be told she was very hot and he wouldn't say no to her in bed but she was way too young for him and besides he wasn't even sure if she had ever even had sex.

She blushed often enough at the guys rude jokes and had never, to Chris's knowledge, accepted a date from one of the guys on the teams or otherwise.

'Maybe she's a lesbian?' he wondered, noticing how quickly a friendship had grown between her and Jill and how the younger girl always seemed most comfortable in Jill's presence it could be possible.

He almost smacked himself at the thought, just because a girl didn't accept dates and liked the company of her own sex didn't make her gay.

'Still I might have competition if she is' Chris mused, then quickly crushed the thought.

Jill had caught his attention, she was waving him over; he smiled at the invitation and walked over to the girls.

"What's up?"

Jill smiled and nudged Rebecca; the girl coughed in embarrassment and hid her face.

"Rebecca's been snooping around and thinks she's found some more info about this incident" Jill said with a soft smile at the girl.

Rebecca blushed and mumbled something incomprehensible, Chris raised an eyebrow in amusement at her embarrassment.

"Ahem, as I was 'telling' Jill its nothing more then rumours but some of the physicians and morticians examining the bodies of the victims had been going on about something else they found on the bodies. They wouldn't elaborate but they hinted that this had something to do with the threat of quarantining the city" She took a breath and then watched to see their reactions.

Chris frowned as he thought about it, "Personally I'm not surprised, we're not always given all the details of every conspiracy that goes on in this city," Chris said truthfully.

Jill nodded then saying a quick goodbye to Rebecca lead Chris over to a corner of the room; Chris asked her what was up with a look alone.

"I believe there's more to what Rebecca found out, after the briefing I'm going to meet a friend of mine, a coroner at the city morgue and see if I can convince him to tell me anything"

Chris thought this over, "What sort of 'convincing', how much does he ask?"

Jill smiled and stretched leisurely; Chris wasn't the only one to look, he noticed.

"There's always the more 'fun' kind of convincing" Jill said, grinning impishly.

Chris couldn't fight the stab of jealousy that he felt at those words, he cocked his head and looked down on her seriously.

"I could always provide another form of 'convincing' if you want?" Chris said, punching his fist into the palm of his hand meaningfully.

Jill laughed and looked up at him teasingly, "Why Chris, you're not jealous are you?"

Chris quickly babbled his denials but he could tell in her sparkling eyes she didn't believe him… but she didn't seem annoyed though.

She smiled and rubbed at her neck bashfully, "Don't worry I was gonna go for the tried and tested method anyway, a good old bribe, she looked up at him softly, so don't worry ok?"

Chris nodded feeling uncomfortably at Jill's beautiful, but too knowing stare; he coughed and quickly thought of something to change the subject.

"So how are you and Rebecca getting along? She doing ok in Bravo team?" Chris asked.

Jill frowned at the subject change and seemed to consider what to say, "She's enjoying the work and the responsibility but has some doubts"

Chris looked over at Rebecca in confusion; the girl was chatting to Brad and seemed to be happy enough.

"Doubts?"

"Yes, she's not sure people believe she's worthy of the job or that she got here on merit and not… other means" Jill said sadly.

Chris frowned as he thought this over, insight suddenly smacked him in the forebrain and he looked over at the kid sternly.

"Is someone giving her hassle?" He growled.

Jill had sensed his thoughts and quickly took his arm, "Don't worry about her Chris, she's tougher then she looks and a few snide comments made in locker rooms aren't gonna faze her in the long term. Besides Forest and Joseph have already promised to beat the hell out of whoever she points out"

Chris smirked and looked appreciatively at the two men in question, Forest had obviously snapped Joseph out of his thoughts and the two were now entertaining Rebecca. The girl was rolling her eyes at the twos antics but her smile was very much real.

The door to the STARS office swung open and silence immediately took hold in the room, a tall darkly dressed man entered the room and quietly looked around him from behind the cover of his sunglasses.

"At ease" He said passively before softly closing the door and stalking over to the front of the room, depositing some paperwork he held onto the front desk.

The STARS relaxed and began to mutter among themselves excitedly, if the man noticed their impatience he didn't comment.

'Mysterious as always' Chris thought as he watched the older man organise his files, he coughed meaningfully and was gratified when the sunglasses looked up at him.

"Yes Chris?" he asked patiently.

"So what's this emergency meeting all about sir? We're all itching to know" Chris questioned.

"In just a moment Chris" The man said calmly before returning to his paperwork.

Chris snorted in annoyance, frankly he shouldn't be surprised not to get an answer.

Albert Wesker was, as ever, a difficult man to read. Behind the dark sunglasses that Wesker 'always' wore it was impossible to know what was going on in the mans head.

Chris believed that Wesker was probably a few years older then himself but he couldn't be sure, his commander had never divulged any personal details about himself, not even something as trivial as his own age.

Wesker had been the overall commander of STARS ever since it was first created a few years ago, the man had personally picked the members himself from various ex-covert operatives and Special Forces.

Chris still remembered that long gone day when Barry had knocked on his apartment door after he had been discharged from the air force, his old friend had told him about the job on offer and Chris had accepted. Now two years on he didn't regret anything.

'Still, he thought in amusement, if it weren't for Barry's recommendation I doubt Wesker would have employed me'

Although he believed he had proven himself to Wesker, he knew he was a good officer and worthy of Stars, yet the two men rarely saw eye to eye though not enough to the point of open fights.

'Wesker's far too cool headed for that'

Still despite his coldness Wesker was a respected and responsible leader, though many of the Stars wouldn't count him as a friend they all at least trusted his judgement.

All eyes fixed on Wesker when he gave a light cough for attention; Chris frowned when he noticed Barry looked uncomfortable for some reason.

"Ladies and gentlemen, ive just come from a special conference with the mayor and Chief Irons, I'll start with telling you that this mission we have just been given is of vital importance…"

Chris noticed that Wesker looked strangely thrilled about something, a slight smile came to his lips as he repeated, "yes… of vital importance"

"Is it something to do with this mornings news sir?" Enrico asked.

Wesker nodded, "Yes Enrico as some of you are aware, and the rest of you should have found out, there has been a violent and tragic attack against several families residing in the Raccoon City suburbs close to the mountains"

"Details are sketchy, Wesker began to pass out some paperwork to the nearest Stars, we know not the numbers, motivations, or whereabouts of the group or possibly groups that have committed these crimes"

He leaned towards his desk laying his hands across the polished wood, "Though the most horrible aspect of this case, which unfortunately the media has found out, is that all the victims have been devoured. Some partially while others have been stripped to the bone, as it were"

The Stars began to mutter nervously amongst themselves and Chris could see why, he had just been passed some photos of the victims and it wasn't a pretty sight.

Rebecca gasped and covered her mouth in shock as she examined the pictures, beside her Joseph looked disgusted while Brad looked ready to be sick.

All around the rooms the Stars mirrored each other's disgust and revulsion at the photos.

Waiting a few moments for the mutterings to finish Wesker continued, "As you can see these photos have the public terrified and we Stars have been ordered to get to the bottom of this"

Wesker went over to the whiteboard laid against the wall behind his desk and began to quickly write down some directives.

"So we have several objectives, Bravo team you will be exploring the suburbs, talk to the people there, the friends of the families, work colleges, people who know the area. Find out any strange rumours or whispers going around if any, find out if the families had any enemies who would do this to them or anything about strange groups or people skulking around the area"

The Bravo team nodded in agreement discussing amongst themselves about their orders.

"Alpha team I want you to check out past reports of the area especially missing peoples reports that were never solved. I could be wrong but I suspect whoever this group is they have been operating around the mountains before and missing hikers and such could give us insight into their activities"

Chris and Jill nodded, already Chris could think of several such instances that were worth investigating.

"Lastly I want both teams to do a sweep of the surrounding forest in the suburbs, this will happen tomorrow with K-9 units and police support, id like to find something quickly and nip this case in the bud"

Again Chris noticed that Wesker looked strangely pleased, "Though I doubt we'll find anything, if they're smart the group has probably moved on deep into the mountains" he said distractedly.

He handed out some more files then packed up his stuff and headed to the door, at the exit he turned fixing his teams with a steely gaze.

"Get stuck into this people and don't piss about… this case is more important then any of us" He said mysteriously before leaving.

The Stars stood dumbfounded for a moment before the uproar started.

"What the hells he mean 'this case is more important then any of us' what the fucks that all about?"

"Obviously the public is worried about this and Wesker and the police are being pressured to solve it quickly"

"Seen those pictures? Man that was some crazy shit!"

Barry quickly stepped in raising his hands for silence, "People would you stop the damn questioning? We're Stars and we have our orders, so act professional and hop to it!"

Chastened by Barry's firm words the two teams looked at each other sheepishly, Enrico nodded at Barry and Chris and motioned for his team to follow him, the Bravo team said their farewells and filed out of the room.

"So where to first?" Joseph asked, Brad looked to Chris and Barry questioningly too.

"I've got some leads ill check out. Brad, Joseph, wanna go and get an inventory sorted for tomorrow then have a look through the R.P.D records for missing persons, you know what to look for" Chris ordered, the guys nodded and hurried out, in Weskers absence the two men would follow Chris or Barry's commands unquestionably.

Jill quickly stowed away her files in her desk then turned to Barry and Chris with a hand on her hip thoughtfully.

"Ill head down the mortuary and check out my contact there, I'll meet you guys later," She said before grabbing her jacket and walking out, the two men watched her leave.

"And us?" Barry asked with a smile.

Chris grinned back at his friend pleased to see him finally crack a smile today.

"We'll head down town and ask around a bit at the reporters hangouts for info… then grab all our files and the team and discuss them over a pint" Chris said with a sardonic smirk.

Barry eyed Chris in amusement but didn't object the two men grabbed their coats and the paperwork Wesker gave them and headed out into the city.

'This is going to be an interesting case, Chris thought, I just bloody know it'

Chapter 8.

The house of horrors.

Back in the Raccoon forest resting on the high peaks of the Arkley Mountains the sun had finally risen bathing the woodlands in its golden glow.

For many creatures of the mansion grounds this was a time to hide in the shadows and burrow into the earth, the nightmare creatures detested the pure light of the sun.

But for some the light was a welcome relief and a small blessing in this world, for Lisa she was, as always, resting on her cabin roof watching as the suns fiery light began to peek across the horizon.

As ever she welcomed the dawn of another day and uttered a silent thanks to whatever angel still watched over her, she smiled tranquilly as the soft light flowed over her body caressing her with its golden touch.

Her amber eyes looked out upto the sky admiring the blue cloudless sky and beautiful rising sun. 'Today feels like a good day' she thought as she breathed deep of the crisp early morning air.

Her ritual maintained Lisa leapt from the roof and retired to her cabin and her cavernous home, she had a lot of thinking to do.

Hazard lazily opened a single eye his sleepy gaze staring out of the treehouse and towards the brightly illuminated forest that lay beyond him.

The tyrant opened his eyes fully, blinking rapidly to clear the gunk from them. He rubbed at his eyes with the knuckles of his hands while yawning widely showing off his long teeth, he sat up stretching fully and giving a pleasurable moan as his muscles and bones unwound.

Still with heavy eyes the tyrant looked around him blearily wondering for a moment where he was, who he was, and whether that girl in the crimson dress had been real?

'No she wasn't idiot' Hazards subconscious said, Hazard swore he could almost hear it yawning within his skull.

"Freaky" Hazard muttered to himself, he wearily got to his feet stretching further with his claws and tail outstretched.

'God that's good, ok then what memories have I got in my head?'

Hazard mentally glanced at his subconscious but it shrugged and glared back at him sleepily, 'Work it out yourself, we're not doing everything for you' it said moodily.

'No help there then' Hazard thought, he frowned and began to review what happened yesterday.

"Oh yeah… I'm a monster, phew I was worried for a moment there" Hazard said sarcastically, his subconscious merely blinked at him owlishly.

Ok he had woken up in a lab, got some of his shoulder bitten off, had some fights and found some tragedies. The tyrant shuddered as he recalled the bagged bodies in the labs and the children.

Then escaped to the sewers, met a giant reptile thingy, had another fight with a tentacle creature in a cabin then ran through the forest to, Hazard looked around himself, here?

'Yes here, this treehouse where I crashed for the night and intend to never do so again' Hazard grumbled while rubbing at some of the soreness his body felt from such an uncomfortable sleeping place.

Pacing around to stretch his legs Hazard and swished his tail about to relax it he then walked over to the treehouse entrance.

And gasped in amazement at the sight before him.

The sun had just risen and was still low in the sky bathing the area in brilliant light, Hazard had to squint to look out over the forest as he committed everything to detail.

The forest itself stretched for miles before him, with the early morning light it looked as if the forest was ablaze with a crimson glow. It was truly an awesome sight.

Hazard could just make out mountainous peaks rising in the distance, the towers of rock loomed above the forest majestically and Hazard admired their white and blue frames as clouds nuzzled the peaks.

Stepping out onto the tree Hazard took hold of a strong tree limb and leaned out over the edge looking around him curiously.

The forest continued in all directions into the horizon and in the far distance Hazard could make out more mountainous peaks, it seemed that this forest was… cut off?

Isolated by the peaks?

Hazard felt a brief stab of annoyance, by the looks of it hiking out of here would be near impossible without large supplies of food and equipment.

Hazard quickly swung out of the treehouse and climbed higher up the tree, scaling the thinning branches easily Hazard reached the top of the canopy for an all-round view.

A world of green greeting him as Hazard clung to the gently swaying branches, he hissed in frustration carefully turning in a circle looking for some sign of civilisation in this hidden forest.

He almost fell of his perch when he gave a shriek of glee as he spied a building half hidden by the forest to the west of him, with the sun behind him he didn't have to worry about the glare so he could easily view this structure.

Hazard gave a low whistle as he spied the grand building, it looked like some kind of mansion, three storeys tall and almost a mile in length it seemed. Hazard was oddly reminded of a fairytale, the beautiful mansion hidden deep in an isolated forest.

'Or a horror story, remember the lab files' Hazards subconscious warned.

Hazard frowned as he considered this eyeing the mansion suspiciously; the lab files had mentioned the mansion.

'If there's zombies and reptile things underground and in the forest then it's surely certain that they're in that building too'

Hazard rubbed at his chin with a claw, he didn't like this. Would it be worthwhile to escape that lab and sewer only to enter another monster infested place?

'But what choice do I have? I have to find out more about this place and if that's where I'll find the info that's where I'll go'

So decided Hazard carefully dropped back down into the treehouse wiping off some leaves and pacing around thoughtfully.

After a few moments Hazard drew his knife examining the blade carefully then sheathing it again but more loosely, he then unclipped his small crossbow checking the bolt was still secure then looked out into the forest again.

He took a breath then exhaled slowly, "Here goes nothing" he muttered before moving to the edge of the treehouse and leaping to the ground.

He hit the floor without a hitch then ran off into the greenery the mansions position fixed in his mind.

As he ran the forest remained silent, no bird songs, no noise of animal movements, just the rustle of leaves in the wind.

Hazard ran and he couldn't help but feel that the forest was silently watching him… or if not the trees then something else.

A green eye watched as Hazard ran by, the owner examined the strange creature carefully noting its claws and physique and wondering at how much of a threat this new prey could be.

Still it had already eaten so the eye didn't give chase but it made a note to remember that creature, something told it there was something different about that one.

Strong coils moved and enormous fangs glistened as venom dribbled down their length, the forest itself seemed to shudder as the evil slithered by their trunks.

"Ssssss"

Lisa had lain on her bed for the past few hours tossing and turning restlessly.

After the encounter last night she had retired to her cabin and her bed, she had slept for a few hours then awakened to watch the dawn.

After that she had planned to sleep the day away, the body of the deer that was safely hidden in her supply cave meant she didn't have to worry about hunting today.

Yet she couldn't get that damn face out of her head!

Everytime she closed her eyes she saw that strange creatures purple face and bright golden eyes, she shuddered as she recalled his smile as he had turned to face her after she killed that hunter attacking him.

It had been so nice to see a smile… then she had thwacked him and that smile had vanished.

'Serves me right for hitting him I suppose' Lisa thought glumly, she snorted in disgust and rolled onto her side burying her head in her sheets in annoyance.

She felt herself relaxing and her tentacles slumped over her lazily, she closed her eyes and smiled tiredly idly wondering what that creature was doing now.

Her eyes snapped open and she gave a scream of rage at her thoughts, damn it what was wrong with her! What did she care what he did with his time, he was just another monster here, just another threat!

Tearing the covers from her she beat at her pillows in a fit of rage her tentacles slashing through the air in agitation.

After a few moments she collapsed on the bed idly blowing hair away from her eyes, she lay curled upon herself for a few moments thinking carefully.

With a sigh she sat up and swung her feet over the edge of the bed, her feet searched around for a moment before slipping into the worn furry slippers at the base of the bed.

She carefully stood up, grunting in pain as the weight of her cuff kicked in, adjusting to it she paced around her bedroom in a distracted circle.

Scooping a worn teddy from her bed with a tentacle she held it up to her eyes looking for inspiration in the dolls button eyes.

"What should I do Ted? Kill him or… or… or I don't know?" She wailed in desperation.

The teddy remained silent and continued to smile at Lisa with its fading stitching, she sighed and hugged it close to her murmuring apologises to the doll for shouting.

She had never felt so confused before, she barely knew the creature, for all she knew he was just as nasty as the bad men who hurt her so many years ago were.

And yet he had hesitated to strike, he had her at a disadvantage and he hadn't struck… surely that counted for something?

And his eyes… Lisa shivered as she recalled those beautiful golden orbs. There had been no evil or cruelty in his gaze just confusion and sadness when she had struck.

She growled in annoyance at her actions, a part of her wanted to try and talk to the creature, a part of her desperately needed company.

That part of her also whispered that if she didn't get it soon her and sanity were going to part ways forever.

But the more violent part of Lisa, the part that had helped her survive and was animalistic said to kill him.

He was a threat to her; he could hurt her in more ways then the physical if she and him became friends.

He would have power over her, power to hurt her heart and destroy it forever.

'But surely… it's worth the risk?' She wondered.

She stood in the centre of her room stroking her Ted indecisively for a moment before coming to a decision.

Gently placing Ted back on her bed she moving to her dress mirror, glancing at her reflection for a second she quickly picked up her mask of faces that hung over the back of the dressers stool.

Placing it over her face and arranging it for maximum effect in the mirror she didn't even blink as the faces screamed silently at her.

Lisa had long ago stopped listening to their screams when she looked in a mirror.

Once suitably placed so that any monster she encountered would get a massive shock whatever angle it looked at her Lisa threw off her slippers and quickly scaled the ladder leading out of her 'bedroom'.

She was going to the treehouse again.

And hopefully she'd have decided what to do when she got there.

Hazard had been wandering through the forest for about ten minutes before he spotted the mansion in the distance, seeing as it was almost completely hidden by the forest, even by daylight, he could see why he missed it during the night.

Finally he cleared the forest and the young tyrant gazed up in awe at the magnificent structure that loomed above him. He judged himself to be at the front entrance as he admired the huge ornate double doors before him and the pillars that surrounded it holding aloft a part of the buildings second floor.

Looking left and right he guessed that the mansion had been here for some time, the walls were cracked and scarred in places exposing crumpling mortar and rotten wood, though some windows remained unbroken the majority had long been smashed by either nature, or some monster perhaps.

The mansion extended for some distance either way and Hazard guessed that the building was probably bigger, and longer, then what he could see.

Hazard stood still with ears erect and on tiptoe as he strained his senses listening intently, he couldn't hear much over the oppressive silence of the forest but he could faintly hear movement inside the building. Though uninhabited it was definitely not unoccupied.

Sneaking quietly up to the front doors Hazard tried a peek through the long glass windows that rested either side of the door, unfortunately the dirt, dust and cobwebs only allowed a vague image. He got the impression that the room beyond was probably very big though.

Taking a deep breath Hazard grasped the double doors handles and gave a mighty push, the doors swung open with a spooky creak and Hazard had a full view inside.

'Wow'

Hazard gasped in amazement at the sight before him as he carefully stepped inside the mansion, he almost slid as he slipped on the marble floor and dug his footclaws in for grip.

He was in a massive great hall, the roof hung storeys above him, it seemed, and a massive chandelier dominated the centre of the room with smaller ones dotted around the room.

Before him was a thick red carpet that ran off in a straight line to a set of stairs at the end of the hall, it then split in two flowing left and right then twisting back towards the doors covering the second floor balcony he guessed.

The architecture and beauty was incredible, Hazard walked carefully over to the stairs gently running a clawed hand over the wooden banisters, the attention to detail was astounding as small carved patterns and ribbons danced around the wood.

Quickly climbing the stairs he went onto the second floor seeing rows of doors on either side, he wondered how many rooms this place had.

Leaned out over the banister he grinned in pleasure as he beheld the great hall with its chandeliers, marble floor and fancy carpet, ornate windows with exotic curtains, and dotted with huge portrait paintings on the walls.

He tapped a claw against the banister considering this place carefully.

'Obviously this place had been absolutely gorgeous when it was cleaned and cared for, though its still a good looker… better then a treehouse!'

Hazard cocked his head listening again and breathing deep of the air, the air told him of rot and pestilence but also of musty furnishings and age. The slow shambling that echoed around the mansion told him more zombies occupied this place.

'But they're easily dealt with… I'm not afraid of a few zombies, Hazard thought with a growing fanged grin, surely there's not too many and can be easily cleared out'

'There could be crimsons though' Hazards subconscious warned.

Hazard snorted, 'I can handle anything they can dish out' he thought in bravado.

He paced around admiring the paintings especially one directly behind him that depicted a happy family all together; yes this place was certainly nice.

He leaned back against the banister thinking about the humans, he doubted that any of them lived here anymore and if anyone wanted this mansion they would have claimed it a long time ago.

Hazard balled his hands into a fist dancing about and pumping the air in delight, that meant that…

"THIS PLACE IS MINE HAHA!" Hazard screamed ecstatically. Grinning happily he sat down comfortably on the old carpet.

"I'm gonna need to put a lot of thought into this" He murmured to himself thoughtfully.

Lisa was annoyed.

She had arrived at the treehouse, carefully creeping through the forest to avoid being seen, climbing up the tree with the utmost silence and then discovered the place to be empty.

She snorted angrily as she surveyed the treehouse; it was just like this creature to make her so confused then to disappear when she finally worked up the nerve to talk to it.

She sniffed the air deeply and examined the tree carefully, the purple things scent was still heavy in the air and the fresh claw marks on the tree branches were no more then an hour old.

Climbing on top of the treehouse she saw further signs that the creature had stood here, probably to examine the surrounding area.

Looking around Lisa saw the mansion clearly in the distance, she was reasonably sure that the creature would have headed towards it out of curiosity.

She leap from the tree canopy hitting the ground unharmed and quickly running as fast as her chains would allow her.

Why of all places did that 'pest' have to walk right into the mansion?

Into the monsters lair itself.

Hazard had returned to the first floor and was currently admiring a large beautifully painted blue vase on a small table beside the stairs when the feeling hit him.

It had been steadily growing all morning, a strange tightness in his groin, not the… organ there but rather under the skin just behind it.

Still Hazard had been ignoring it but now he winced and gave a quick gasp of pain, as the sensation became rather acute.

Hunching up and with his legs crossed Hazard wondered what this strange feeling was? Was this some kind of 'Hazard-virus' mutation manifesting itself?

'No stupid, we need to pee' His subconscious chuckled.

Hazard frowned as he processed this information; now that he thought about it was probably most likely.

Glancing around him Hazard swore as the pain became more intense, where was the damn toilet?

He considered just going on the floor but quickly crushed the disgusting thought this place didn't exactly have a maid service anymore.

'Go outside!' His subconscious yelled.

Hazard nodded and quickly rushed for the front door, throwing it open he blinked at the sunlight then quickly rushed over to the nearest tree and waist high bushes.

"Wait one moment" Hazard pleaded to his bladder as he fumbled around his belt unhooking his small crossbow and holding it tight in his right claw.

"Oookkkay" He murmured as he undid the zip of his jeans, the young tyrant glanced around nervously feeling very exposed outside the mansion and in broad daylight! He mentally told his bladder to hurry up.

Hazard groaned pleasurably, smiling slightly as his bladder emptied itself for the first time, he cooed as he relived himself against the tree.

Hazard attuned ears twitched as he heard a faint rustle to his left in the forest; he squeaked in fright then quickly levelled his crossbow towards the area glancing between the forest and his… whatever.

He urged himself to finish praying that some zombie or, heaven forbid a reptile thing, wouldn't lunge for him.

'If it does its getting an arrow between the eyes' He thought irritably, you couldn't even go to the toilet without watching your back here!

Once finished he hurriedly zipped himself up then back to the mansion doors glancing back towards the forest as he opened the doors, he narrowed his eyes and peered into the greenery but couldn't see anything there.

'Maybe I'm just getting jumpy' He mused as he closed the mansion door behind him.

'Well… that was an interesting show'

Lisa leaned against the tree sighing wearily at how strange her life had become. She had taken shelter behind this tree when the creature had heard her movements and glanced towards her. She smirked slightly as she remembered how he had almost jumped out of his skin with fright.

She looked back towards the mansion almost laughing at the hilarity of the situation, she had never expected to see a male in such a vulnerable position.

She scowled momentarily as she remembered other times she had seen a male's 'dick', 'cock', or some other disgusting slang for them. The males she had seen had flaunted their organs… to them it was a tool to inflict pleasure and pain… only pleasure for themselves though.

But this creature… he had seemed so shy and nervous and somewhat hesitant to expose himself, she giggled as she remembered how he had moaned happily at first then gave a cute squeak when he believed someone to be watching him.

'Perhaps he is different to those other males?' Lisa wondered. This latest incident between them, though he had been unaware, had made her yet again question the evil of all males.

As she hobbled towards the mansion intent on finding this creature and perhaps saying hello. She thought it darkly ironic that the male that looked like a monster seemed to be much more kind and innocent then any others.

"Maybe god has a sense of humour?" Lisa muttered as she carefully pried open the mansion doors.

Hazard had 'ip-dip-dooed' again and decided to take the bottom left door from the front entrance.

He carefully opened it stepping inside the huge room before him, yet again admiring the stunning beauty of this place.

He was in a dining room with a massively long wooden table dominating the centre of the room. Empty dust covered plates and cutlery along with old candlesticks rested upon it.

Hazard cocked his head as he picked up a loud ticking noise echoing around the room; he looked along the right hand side of the hall seeing a large grandfather clock ticking loudly.

'Wow I'm amazed it still works' Hazard thought as he walked over to it admiring the craftsmanship.

Glancing to the left of it he saw a large oil painting set on the wall, the tyrant grimaced in distaste as it depicted two men stabbing each other with swords.

"Cheerful picture" He muttered, glancing behind him Hazard saw something much more comely.

The left side wall was rowed with long towering windows and from them streams of light flowed into the room like glowing pathways, Hazard smiled happily as the light reflected off thousands of dust particles in the air making the whole room shimmer.

'Nice' Looking around Hazard saw a lighted fire at the far end of the room with a display area; he saw several tall pillars there and looked up.

'Hmm, second floor balcony?' Hazard wondered, above him a balcony ringed the room and was held up by the pillars that surrounded the room.

'Whoever built this put a lot of effort into it' Hazards subconscious said reverently.

'Ain't that right' Hazard thought in admiration.

He walked along the huge room his footfalls echoing around the room with the clocks loud ticking.

At the far end Hazard stopped as he saw a body laying next to the fireplace, raising his crossbow towards it he stepped forward cautiously.

There was a lot of blood, a large pool in which the body centred, Hazard noticed that the blood had congealed so the body had been here for awhile.

The body itself was most likely a man though as it was lying face down he couldn't be sure, but due to its lack of hair, sturdy frame and masculine clothes he guessed he was right.

Edging closer Hazard saw that its clothes were torn and ripped along its back and shoulder, deep bite marks coated with infectious slime covered the exposed flesh.

Hazard looked towards a door to his right seeing faint bloody streaks leading towards it, perhaps this person had been wounded then dragged himself here?

Hazard stepped closer his tail swishing anxiously and his muscles tensed to leap back to safety, he gave the body a careful dig with his foot then hopped back.

The body didn't move.

Hazard tried again and still nothing happened, he breathed a sigh of relief, it seemed this corpse was just that.

Lowering his crossbow he considered what to do with it… perhaps he should bury it outside?

He had just made his decision and stepped forward when the body suddenly came to life, its head snapped up and its pale white eyes staring hungrily at Hazard as its arms lunged for him.

With a cry of surprise Hazard dodged back out of the zombie's range, failing to catch him it gave a dull moan and slowly levered itself to its feet.

Hazard snarled in disgust as the zombie groaned and began to hobble towards him, filthy blood-caked hands stretched towards him and rotted teeth gnashing together excitedly.

The tyrant snorted amusedly as the dead man shuffled towards him, with a cheeky grin he raised his crossbow towards its head, he waited until it was within arms reach of him before pulling the trigger.

The weapon gave a loud 'twang' as its bolt was fired forward and the zombie's head was thrown back as the bolt smashed into its forehead. The bolt pierced the decayed flesh easily shooting through its skull and brain and stopping in a pillar behind the zombie.

The zombie swayed on its feet a look of surprise on its features as dark blood trickled from its head, it took a step forward and Hazard darted back unsure if the bolt had done any damage.

He needn't have worried, the zombie pitched forwards after its step and fell face first onto the marble floor, the impact made a loud wet smack and then the zombie lay still.

Not taking any chances Hazard quickly unsheathed his knife and stabbed it into the zombie's brain, it didn't even twitch.

'Yep its definitely dead' Hazard thought with a cocky grin, twirling his knife he sheathed it and strutted forward victoriously.

Hazard had spent a few moments examining the fire and a large wooden emblem set above it, he had found that the emblem could be removed but hadn't seen a reason to take it yet so filed it for future reference.

To the right of the fireplace under the pillars had been another door that Hazard had carefully opened and stepped inside.

'Somewhat cosy, I guess?' Hazard thought as he eyed the long dark corridor he was in, the passageway extended in only two directions, a row of doors was to his right and to his left was some kind of sitting area.

The only light source was provided by a small window in the study area facing down the corridor, the small amount of sunlight only illuminated the immediate area.

Hazard sniffed the air again but couldn't detect anything hostile so guessed that this corridor was safe, he decided to go right and return after exploring those doors.

The tyrant found the darkness grew progressively worse the further he went; though Hazards eyesight easily compensated for the dimming light.

The first door was firmly locked, fiddling about with it he guessed it was a simple latch that locked the door from the other side.

Hazard considered smashing the door down but that might attract unwanted attention so he moved on.

The next door was also firmly locked though from Hazards side this time, curiously the keyhole had a small engraving of a breastplate above it, Hazard wondered at the significance of this.

Still he couldn't open it, and he didn't want to break the door so he went deeper into the passageway finding another corner that lead into almost pitch blackness.

Hazard hesitated at the corner, though he may be able to see his eyesight would still be severely reduced so whatever enemy might be round the corner would have the advantage.

"Come on you wimp show some guts" Hazard reprimanded himself, steeling himself he drew his knife holding it low and ready as he sprang round the corner.

His eyes squinted into the darkness but he found himself able to see the outline of the corridor just about, he advanced into the darkness finding that the passage curved yet again and suddenly he found himself at the top of some stairs.

Hazard eyed the filthy staircase warily as the grimy steps and crumbling walls that boxed it in looked dangerous by themselves.

'Must lead to some kind of cellar?' Hazards subconscious suggested.

Hazard growled as he considered the wetly rusty door at the bottom of the stairs… many horror movies had taught Hazards personality an important lesson.

'Never go into any monster infested houses basement without backup and serious weaponry or have your head ripped off and your eyeballs eaten'

'Now that I think about it I swear that philosophy came from 'The Cellar Dweller' Hazard thought.

'Regardless, Hazards subconscious said primly, we should be on our guard if we go down there'

"To enter possible monster infested basement, or not to… that is the question" Hazard sighed. He glanced at his weapons and thought, 'To hell with it' and began to descend.

Lisa had a tentacle wrapped round the mansion doors handle but had yet to open the door.

Actually anyone looking closer would see that the tentacle was shaking faintly and that its owner was still and silent.

Lisa's eyes looked into the mansion seeing back through the mists of time and remembering with horrible clarity the suffering she endured within its walls. The girl shivered and a sharp gasp escaped her trembling lips as her tentacle began to slowly unwind from the doorknob… she couldn't go in there again.

'Never again, I can't go through all that again'

But as she began to take a step back she remembered the golden eyes and the smile. She glanced back at the huge double doors that radiated evil back at her.

"He doesn't deserve to be alone there" she whispered to herself, 'nobody deserves to suffer like me in there'.

Still fear held her in place, she knew that the scientists were dead, she KNEW that the man with the sunglasses and the other with the innocent face and beautiful blue eyes, that contained such a dark soul, were gone too.

But over several decades of pain had imprinted the message that the mansion was a bad place and Lisa would only feel pain in there.

'But HE is alone in there, the gold eyes are alone in there'

He wasn't ready; he had no idea of what monsters lived in there. Evil was in the mansions very WALLS not just in the physical monsters that wandered the halls.

The tentacle-bearing girl squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and threw a venomous glare at the double doors.

'This creature is more trouble then he's worth' she thought angrily, she felt glad to be angry now it gave her focus.

She was going to go in there and drag that creature out by his hair if necessary, then beat him up for the annoyance he was.

Then talk to him… and probably beat him up again just on principal afterwards.

So decided she rushed to the huge front doors of the mansion and threw them open, stepping inside and beginning her search before fear could take her.

'What a DUMP!'

Hazard held a ragged end of his lab coat to his nose as he gazed around him in revulsion; the smell this room gave off was as strong as a biological weapon!

He had entered the basement and found that it was a kitchen and pantry for the mansion, aged cooking wear and machines lined the left-side wall with shelves, cupboards, and possibly a fridge resting along the right.

What generated the stink, (other then the near fatal lack of cleaning in this room) was a massive wooden table that dominated the centre of the room, rotted with age and absolutely stacked with decomposing food.

He edged as close as he dared and he wasn't surprised to see that nothing remotely edible remained among the dishes, most of it looked to have been left for years as all that was left were black sludge's pockmarked with green, orange and other coloured fungal growths.

What was strange to Hazards eyes was that the food looked to have been set for a meal, rusted and filthy cutlery resting side by side with the dishes leading Hazard to believe that whoever had prepared this meal had abandoned it very quickly and never came back.

'Guess when whatever happened… happened, they had to leave immediately and couldn't come back… perhaps because they were killed straight away?'

Hazard glanced around but despite the mess there was no sign of struggle or a fight in this room so the diners couldn't have been attacked when eating.

'Enough thinking we have an important matter to attend to' Hazards subconscious snapped.

"What's that?" Hazard asked as he picked up a fork and poked at an unidentifiable piece of meat, it sank in on itself with an interesting squelch.

'Food'

Hazard grimaced, as at that moment his stomach gave an angry growl, perhaps he should listen to the tummy god?

Hazard turned away from the table, no way was he gonna eat anything there! And examined the various shelves and cupboards dotted around the kitchen.

After a few minutes fruitless searching, (not completely fruitless as he found a very old and green orange… at least he hoped it was once an orange) he stopped outside the thick metal doors that lead into, hopefully, a large fridge.

'Surely something edible survives in there? I mean fridge's are meant to preserve stuff' Hazard reasoned.

'Depends on if it still has power' Hazards subconscious answered.

With a deep breath Hazard gripped the metal handles, wincing at how cold they were, and pulled hard on the doors.

They resisted, years of ice, rust and grime had formed a powerful glue that stuck the doors together, including the added fact that the doors were locked, but with a tyrant's strength and his hunt for food powering him they were reluctantly forced open.

Hazard wrenched the doors open wincing at the high pitched shriek the sliding metal made, he was forced back as cold air and mist blasted out of the open doors, coughing on ice crystals he darted back a safe distance then squinted into the fog.

After a few seconds the mist cleared and Hazard was allowed a full view of the fridge, he whooped with glee as he stepped inside, finding himself surrounded by slabs of meat hanging from the ceiling.

The fridge was the size of a small bedroom with row upon row of various meats lining the centre and shelves of various canned goods and boxes along the walls.

"We hit jackpot!" Hazard hissed excitedly as he carefully laid a hand on a large side of leg. The meat looked to be cow flesh and best of all seemed to be in reasonable condition.

'There's no power here, we cant sense it, but it seems this room was cold enough anyway' Hazards subconscious mused.

'Perk of being locked up underground for so long' Hazard thought happily as he wandered the fridge examining cans and looking in boxes.

'What to eat though?' Hazard wondered as he held up a can of baked beans, the meat was frozen solid and he doubted the cookers worked anymore.

"Can I eat raw meat?" Hazard asked himself, his subconscious considered this before answering, 'Possibly, we are a viral creature now'.

Hazards stomach rumbled painfully again and the tyrant quickly grabbed whatever looked ok, a can and box, and hurried out of the room.

He dumped the food on a clean-ish part of the table then turned and eyed the fridge doors thoughtfully.

"I can't leave it open or it'll all start rotting… or a zombie could wander in and eat it all" He snarled at the thought.

'Can the doors be closed and locked again?' Hazards subconscious asked.

Hazard gave it a shot and forced the two doors, after some strenuous pushing, back to their closed position, but although somewhat shut the doors couldn't be properly closed due to Hazard smashing the lock, the mist floating lazily through the gap between the doors advertised this.

"Need something to lock it" Hazard muttered as he looked around him searchingly. He looked under the table, in the cupboards and around the walls but couldn't find anything of use.

Hazard huffed in annoyance as he stood hands on hips in front of the fridge doors, what he needed was something strong to tie around the fridge doors handles to keep it closed.

'Like a belt?'

Hazard nodded at his subconscious, 'Yes but not my own… I need that'.

He looked around him again and his eyes fell upon some old piping and metal shelving next to the kitchen entrance, he cocked his head as an idea came to him.

Next to the door was a tangle of old pipes, Hazard put his ear against one finding it to be empty with no running… stuff, inside it.

The tyrant rubbed his hands together to warm up then gripped a long piece of pipe at two ends, grunting with effort he pulled at the old metal trying to tear it free.

The metal was putting up a fight and Hazard snarled in rage as a heavy red mist descended over his eyes, 'I am a tyrant and won't be beaten by inanimate metal!' a voice screamed in the dark recesses of his mind.

With a heavy roar he wrenched the pipe free almost falling head over tail with the recoil, Hazard blinked away the strange feeling he had just experienced and examined the piping carefully.

'Don't know what the hell that was just then, how about you?' Hazard asked his subconscious as he pawed the metal in his hands worriedly.

His subconscious remained silent and only offered a mental shrug in explanation, somewhat put off Hazard decided to ignore it and focus on the task at hand.

Turning to the fridge doors Hazard easily wrapped the metal piping around the handles tying it in a strong, but easily reversed knot.

Hazard brushed his hands in satisfaction, "Ok sorted with that… and now, he picked up the food he had taken, we eat"

Lisa turned around slowly in a small circle as she admired the dining room she was in… back in the old days she had never been allowed in here.

'My food was served through a slot in the floor' She thought bitterly as she looked at the huge, grand dining table with its candlesticks and fancy knifes and forks.

Certainly looking over this huge almost royal dining room she couldn't help feel just a little depressed at the vast differences between herself and whatever people dined here.

On a strange whim the girl carefully pulled a chair back and eased herself into the seat, she edged forward and placed her manacled hands on the dusty tabletop looking around her serenely.

She could almost imagine being surrounded by diners, huge plates of food and drink being passed around while all round the air buzzed with pleasant conversation.

Lisa sat back in the chair, closing her eyes and sighing as she enjoyed the quiet and peace of the room, she smiled gently as she imagined herself doing this after stuffing herself and listening to people chat around her.

'It must feel so nice… to be surrounded by your friends at dinner'

She opened her eyes and the illusion was gone, the diners had vanished, the noise had stopped and all around her was silence and a deserted home.

"Just once… I'd like to eat at this table with a friend" She whispered sadly, faint tears pricked her eyes and she wiped them away angrily cursing herself for her momentary weakness.

'Everyone's dead, daddy's dead, mommy's dead, all my friends are gone and I'm alone here, accept it!' she thought moodily, hating herself for thinking about such nice things again.

Already she could feel the old sadness starting to build deep in her chest, she clamped down it as she had done for years and quickly sought for something else to distract her.

'The creature that's who I'm here for'

She hissed in anger at the thought of that creature, it was his entire fault! She was just fine until he wandered into her life and now he had her thinking strange thoughts and remembering painful things! He was nothing but a menace to her!

A part of Lisa knew she was suffering from another of her VERY wild mood swings, in this place she could go from happy to sad, from giggly to psychotic in a heartbeat.

But at the moment all she could think of was the sadness and anger inside her and that the golden eyed creature was responsible.

The girl rushed to her feet knocking back the chair with an echoing bang, her tentacles slashed through the air in simmering rage as she contemplated the things she would do to that horrible creature.

Still she had to find him first, Lisa looked around her again but she had already examined this room and couldn't pick up the creature's scent.

She glanced at the dead body on the floor, possibly the smell of its corruption was throwing her off but she couldn't be sure, nor was she sure whether the creature or something else had killed it. Lisa was not very good at forensics, a deep cut in a body's head could be anything as far as she was concerned, it was dead, that's that and she couldn't really be bothered to examine it further.

Lisa looked above her at the balcony up there; perhaps he had gone to the second floor?

'If he's investigating the mansion he will eventually go up there' She concluded, and with this thought she shuffled back the way she came towards the main hall.

Oh boy was that creature gonna get it when she caught up with him!

Hazard had returned to the dark corridor with the locked rooms and backtracked to the very far end with the illuminating window, to his delight he found a large sofa tucked away in one corner of the little room and decided to make camp here.

"Oh god this is good" Hazard moaned. The sofa was warm and comfy, gave in to pressure just enough and was incredibly soft despite the dust. Hazard wiggled deeper into the fabric glad that, at last, he could lounge on something comfortable.

'I could stay like this for hours! Wish I had something like this to sleep in' Hazard thought as he stretched his feet across the couch, he laid at a relaxing right angle to give his tail room which was currently draped across his back.

'Unfortunately, as comfortable as this sofa is we have to deal with important bodily needs' His subconscious said in amusement.

Hazard groaned, he didn't want to move! However a grumble from his stomach at that moment forced him to grudgingly act.

'Its always moaning at the wrong moments' Hazard thought in annoyed perplexity.

'Ok lets see what we've got" Hazard sat up moving into a comfortable position as he placed the box beside him then held the can up for inspection.

'The labels faded… but the can hasn't been broken so whatever's inside should still be ok'

Unsheathing his knife Hazard sawed at the top of the can for a minute his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth in concentration.

He pumped the air with his arm when he finally sawed through then peered into the gloopy mess with some trepidation, the inside looked like a semi-solid watery mixture with, Hazard leaned closer, big green thingys inside?

Hazard dipped his knife in. Stabbing a 'green thing' and held it up curiously, it looked like some kind of vegetable, kindy lumpy but mainly cylindrical in shape.

Whatever it was it didn't look very healthy or tasty for that matter… perhaps he shouldn't eat it?

His stomach growled again and Hazard winced at the sharp pain, he released a weary sigh, whispered a short prayer, stuffed the vegetable in his mouth, and chewed.

The action Hazard did next was a near silent gag, his face screwed up and his eyes bulged as the unknown vegetable was slowly pulped by his teeth releasing its pungent taste onto his tongue.

'God I feel like I've been punched in the mouth with a mouldy old sock and its stuck around my tonsils!'

'We are not enjoying this either but you must eat!' Hazards subconscious said sharply as Hazard prepared to spit the disgusting morsel out of his mouth. He caught himself at the last moment and with an expression of the utmost suffering continued to chew until he could swallow the vegetable.

'Just as bad at the back as well as the front of the mouth' He thought with a dry wretch, his subconscious remained silent but Hazard could sense it was suffering too.

The tyrant glanced at the can in his hands and the other four vegetables gently swaying within the watery soup, his hand twitched with the edge to throw the can but… the vegetable hadn't been corrupted just tasted nasty.

"It's for the greater good" Hazard whispered as he watched the food with revulsion.

'Its for survival' His subconscious agreed its own voice sounding slightly sick.

The tyrant sighed and quickly stuffed the next one into his mouth, beginning to chew in stony silence.

The can had flown for the first time in its non-life.

At the third vegetable Hazard could take no more and the can had found itself being thrown through a glass window and making a surprisingly long journey of nine meters before being stopped by the skull of a wandering zombie.

Hazard slumped back in the sofa swilling his saliva around his mouth to collect any leftovers before spitting in a random direction, after a few more actions he lay back glaring at nothing in particular.

'I swear starvation or no starvation I will never eat something like that again!'

'The important thing is we ate as many as we could… it should keep us alive a little longer' His subconscious replied with audible relief.

'As many as we could?' Hazard asked curiously.

'Oh god yes! One more and I'd have demanded you throw that hellish stuff at the nearest passing zombie!'

Hazard laughed at his subconscious's indignation, tapping his fingers on the couch and swinging his tail lazily the tyrant relaxed for a few moments trying to erase his memory of that food, until he remembered the box he had brought.

Eyeing said box suspiciously the tyrant picked it up running a claw over its top curiously, the smell from the hidden item was much nicer then the previous food.

'Couldn't be worse then the other stuff' With that thought Hazard stabbed a claw into the cello-tape across the box and easily tore it open, reaching in he pulled out a long strip of meat.

"This is more like it!" Hazard said happily as he sniffed the meat, he couldn't be sure what it was (as long as it smelled nice and was a pink-ish colour he didn't care) but it sure looked tasty!

Holding the meat above his open jaws Hazard slowly lowered the food taking large bites out of the succulent meat with his sharp teeth.

'Oh god!'

It tasted so good, especially after eating that vegetable, Hazard quickly tore the meat apart then devoured the remaining meat in an orgy of consumption.

Afterwards the tyrant gave an appreciative belch and laid back again feeling sated, he grinned pleasantly as he picked at his teeth with the tip of a claw for any spare meat.

'I'll try and stay a carnivore from now on' Hazard thought happily as he licked his lips savouring the residue taste, with his hunger now satisfied Hazard turned his attention to more serious matters.

He now had a food source, granted the food stored in the fridge would only last so long but hopefully another week at least.

And now with food he needed a place of safety where he could dwell and recuperate in.

"Cant exactly sleep here can I" Hazard muttered as he considered how exposed this small stretch of corridor was, although he couldn't hear or smell anything in the vicinity if he were to sleep here he'd probably wake up with teeth clamped onto his neck.

'We should explore more of this mansion' Hazards subconscious said, Hazard nodded in agreement and with a last regretful stretch stood up and turned away from the sofa.

"Ok where to go" Hazard looked around him considering his options, he could return to the main hall and go upstairs or check out this door ahead of him that probably lead further into the ground floor.

'Best to explore one floor at a time?' Hazards subconscious suggested cautiously.

'Agreed'

Hazard moved to the door his steps silent, as he was ever weary of an attack in this place, placing his ear to the door he couldn't hear anything on the other side.

Reaching for the handle he found the door to be unlocked, he gave a short shrug in decision and went through the door.

'Wonder if it'll be a zombie, dead body, random monster, or all of the above in this room?'

Outside under the bright sunlight all seemed peaceful and still in the forest surrounding the mansion.

Of course to an outsider this would always be the case, the creatures of the forest had long ago learned to be silent or else become a meal.

But in some parts of the forest was an altogether more sinister silence, the normal quiet of creatures moving through the dense foliage was gone in this small area of the forest.

For near the path to the tentacle girls cabin was the silence of many creatures holding their breath, forcing themselves not to move… not to breath… not even to blink.

"Sssssss"

To those creatures with heightened hearing the faint sound of rustling among the leaves could be heard.

Noises like something huge and frightening moving with incredibly silent stealth for its size between the trees and hedges.

One such creature was a Hunter who had been fortunate to hear the almost inaudible noise and had been smart enough to hide himself as best he could and try to the best of his ability to stop the sound of his heart beating.

This Hunter had been sent to recover the body of a clan brother, killed last night by the many-faced terror. He had arrived on one side of the path and seen the body and had moved to retrieve it, after all no meat should be wasted.

But as he moved to cross the path he had suddenly become aware of the silence of the forest around him had felt the sudden stillness and sense of danger in the air… and heard the slight noise of something coming towards him.

Something he knew was moving faster then the sound indicated.

Something that drew icy terror from the hearts of all the mansion residents.

Something that was coming this way!

The hunter had thrown caution to the winds and dived back into the forest intent on escaping this place, but once amongst the plants he had lost track of the noise, was the terror in front of him?

Behind him?

Coming from the sides of him?

This uncertainty locked the Hunter in place and as the tension in the air grew to the point where the Hunter felt like screaming just to break it, so he silently laid himself upon the ground and hid in the dirt instead.

His heart was pounding in his chest and the Hunter prayed that the sound wouldn't attract it. He looked out through the bushes around him and could see the dead body of his clan brother on the other side of the dusty path.

"Ssssssss"

A musty stink filled the air and the hunter fought to stop himself gagging, the smell was of rot, corruption, excrement and disease.

The sort of smell death smelled like.

And then the bushes on the other side of the path had moved and the Hunters eyes had stared in terrified wonder at the monstrous creature that had rose from the forest… like a demon emerging from the netherworld.

Sickly green eyes had looked around and the hunter had felt his heart stop for a second as its basilisk stare had resting on his hiding place for a moment. The evil eyes of the beast finished their search of the area and now looked down upon the dead Hunter before it.

The huge mouth had opened into a hideously wide grin; enormous fangs dripping with poison had emerged from the saw-toothed maw as the monster appraised the morsel on the ground.

The head as large as a car swayed from side to side before striking with unholy speed, the Hunter closed its eyes and trembled as it heard the wet crunch of the impact then the furious, and oh so loud, swallowing noise.

When he looked again the last of the dead Hunter had just vanished down the monsters throat, vanished into the dark pit of eternity.

The Hunter hoped now that the monster would just go away, she had fed now would she just leave him alone and alive!

Coils moved and as the eyes turned back towards the forest the hunter breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed slightly.

The tiny amount of pressure he placed onto the ground was just enough to snap the small twig under his right claw.

The monster turned with lightning speed and its eyes glared horribly, but with such accuracy, at the Hunter's resting-place.

The hunter released a dry sob as his eyes met with hers and those blazing green orbs held him in place as if he were drowning in a swamp.

Her mouth opened into her familiar demonic grin as she slithered across the path, the Hunter could not help the small feeling of awe that such a massive creature could exist as she towered above him.

When she reached the treeline her powerful muscles propelled her high into the air as she rose above the trees to look down upon him, she grinned again and the spark of dark triumph glowed in her eyes.

A long forked tongue slashed through the air and the Hunter knew she enjoying the taste of his fear. Her head lowered and soon she was just a few meters from the hunter who still could not make his frozen limbs move as he stared into her eyes.

Her coils moved and soon she was coiling herself around him, not yet grasping him but cutting off his escape… she liked to play with her food.

The Hunter finally found the will to move and he leapt to his feet terror giving him strength as he lashed out with his claws at the giant head hovering above him.

She laughed in her hissing language as she easily rose above the attack, her grin became almost a smile as her coils slowly drew closer to the terrified Hunter as he danced on the spot unsure how to escape this situation.

'Give in to me' her emerald eyes whispered to the Hunter, 'let me wrap myself around you and take away your pain and sorrow, one kiss and you can sleep forever without dreams and only peace'

The Hunter fought against her eyes hypnotic suggestion, so many of his kind had given in to her dark whisperings and he was determined not to be one of them!

He roared in defiance at her and bunching up his legs leapt into the air towards that sadistic smirk, his claws held ready as he prepared to fight this monster and tear her apart.

Quick as thought the monster moved, her coils lashed out and in mid-air the Hunter was caught and held tightly in her crushing grip, she hissed in amusement as he struggled franticly in her grasp.

She watched his struggles for a few more interesting seconds then grew bored… and also grew hungry.

The Hunter felt his breath being forced from his body as the coils draped around him like heavy chains squeezed with crushing force, his muscles bulged under his scales as he pushed against the deadly force but he could feel himself slowly succumbing.

A giant green eye drew level with his as the great snake, 'Yawn', watched his last moments with intent joy. The Hunter screamed in pain and panic as he called for aid yet no answering chirps reached his ears.

The snake shrieked in animalistic triumph as she crushed the life from her prey, the Hunter had held out for almost a minute but could not escape the steel grip of his killer.

With her prey dead the snake shifted the body within her bunched coils and brought it level to her head, the huge jaws opened into a hideous parody of an 'inviting' smile as the dead Hunter slide into the snake's gullet.

The giant snake finished her meal congratulating herself for her fortune, two large meals in one day! She could survive for days on those two.

Her demon eyes looked around the forest smugly, she could taste the fear in the air, and many other creatures had witnessed her victory and had been rightly cowed.

The snake stretched out towards the sky and unleashed an unholy scream of domination; creatures for miles froze in terror as they heard the predators cry and the message it contained.

'I am the predator of all, killer of all, eater of all! No one is safe from my fangs and coils. Fear me you weak creatures for you are all my prey!'

Her dominance once again apparent the great snake Yawn began her journey back to her den.

For the creatures of the forest a great rush of relief could be felt by all as they sensed the presence of Yawn move away, they carried on with life safe for the moment but always with one thought on their minds.

She will feed again… and hopefully I won't be the next meal.

'Damn I look good'

'Vanity isn't always a good thing'

'Yeah but admit it we don't look too bad for a bioweapon'

'Well we're certainly more comely then a zombie I'll grant you'

Hazard grinned and preened himself in front of the six-foot long mirror before him, he had unconsciously come to terms with his appearance and now thought he had a right to admire his looks.

'I mean just look at those golden eyes, soft skin, light purple colour's not exactly normal but still ok and my hair's cool if a little messy'

'Do you and the mirror want some time alone?' Hazards subconscious asked amusedly.

At that moment a groan alerted Hazard to danger and he glanced behind him at the zombie that was trying, with great difficulty, to crawl towards him and possibly bite his ankles.

"I thought I broke its legs AND arms?" Hazard muttered in confusion as he placed a bolt on his crossbow and took aim.

'You did, but we thought that it would take more then that to actually stop him' Hazards subconscious said with a hint of reproach.

"Just having some fun" Hazard said while aiming his shot, he fired his weapon and the zombie loosed a last tired groan before falling still with an arrow sticking out of its head.

Hazard retrieved the bolt and ensured the zombie was dead before glancing around him confidently, he didn't think there was anymore threats here.

Hazard had gone through the door from the 'sofa' corridor and found a passageway leading to a set of stairs, which had lead to this corridor that was filled with dress mirrors and suits of armour.

'Oh and lets not forget the medieval lighting' Hazard thought sarcastically as he eyed the rows of torch braziers dotted along the walls, the effect was to make a freaky room filled with orange light and really DEEP shadows.

Hazard reloaded his crossbow and continued down the passage, he had already found a thick oak panelled door that was locked on the other side and another door that lead to a really messy trap should you not know how to get out of it.

"Beginning to question the wisdom of going into this place" Hazard muttered with feeling as he edged round another corner, crossbow at the ready.

'We have no choice, at least we are safe from the elements in this place' Hazards subconscious replied after Hazard had lunged round the corner and found it empty.

"Yeah that's true, only problem is we're unsafe from everything else in here" The tyrant shot back as he moved towards two doors in the next small area.

One was locked but the other led onto some kind of balcony. Hazard stepped fully into the room and looked down seeing that he was above the dining room and on the balcony that ringed it.

Hazard looked around not at all surprised at the dirt and cobwebs that covered the ceiling and wooden floor of the balcony, what caught his attention was a large statue on the other side of the room.

Looking left and right he saw that there was doors to both sides, the double doors to his left must lead back to the great hall but what the right door lead to was anyone's guess.

Another zombie was also skulking around the far right end of the balcony staring out dumbly through a large stained glass window that depicted some kind of… witch?

'As long as it stays over there' Hazard thought as he stalked stealthily around the balconies left side towards that statue.

Hazard probably didn't need to keep quiet as at this range the zombies rotted senses couldn't even detect him but still it paid to be careful.

Once close to the aged blue statue Hazard stopped dead in astonishment as he examined it, the statue itself was probably several decades old (judging by the state it was in) and had several cracks and cobwebs clinging to its frame.

But what it represented was what had Hazard undivided attention.

'It's a… it's a…'

'Yes Hazard we can see too, its called art and they tend to be nude'

The silent woman standing on the pedestal was naked from the waist up; she was stretching her slim arms towards the sky clutching something between her long delicate hands as if in offering.

Hazard cocked his head to one side as he studied her features, she had long hair that flowed down her back and swayed around her as if being moved by the wind, the sculptor had put a lot of effort into his work.

The woman herself had half-lidded almond shaped eyes, a large (but graceful) nose, perfectly smooth cheeks and a small smile from full lips.

Hazard gulped as he looked upon her face, two beautiful females he had seen now… although none in the flesh unfortunately.

Hazard felt his eyes beginning to inch down the woman's neck, across her collar, towards her…

He quickly shut his eyes, 'I shouldn't be doing this its perverted!' he thought wildly as his heart pounded.

Hazards subconscious laughed at its hosts endearing embarrassment, 'Hazard its art, and its not a real woman. No one will blame you if you look, we certainly wont' it said soothingly.

'Your right I'm being stupid' Hazard thought back and taking a breath opened his eyes.

'…wow!'

The sculptor had really… gone for detail. Her breasts were average sized but incredible pert, softly rounded and with small nipples standing up proudly… with breasts like that any girl had reason for pride.

'So that's what they look like?' Hazard gulped as he continued to stare at the wonderful works of art.

'Of course a real woman's are much better… we think' Hazards subconscious said uncertainly.

Hazard tore his eyes away from the statue and quickly rummaged in his pocket for the photo of Ada, he brought it up to his eyes again drawing in a sharp breath as he saw the woman's beauty again.

Of course her breasts were covered by her red dress and probably smaller then the statues but Hazard could make out the pleasant curves in her dress that announced equally firm breasts.

For a moment Hazard forgot he was in a monster infested mansion and just gazed at the woman's sultry smile and sparkling eyes… god she was beautiful.

He ran a claw gently over her cheek and imagined what it would be like to hold her in his arms… to smell her scent, hear her soft breathing and beating heart.

Touch her fine skin… listen to her voice…

To see her… unclothed beauty…

The tyrants cheeks were a blazing indigo now, thanks to the statue he had some interesting images in his head, he cursed and closed his eyes trying to banish the thoughts and quell the… feelings below his waist.

'Hey we were enjoying that!' Hazard subconscious whined.

"Now is not the time to be fantasising!" Hazard hissed as he brought his body back under control. Once silenced he opened his eyes again meeting Ada's gaze once more.

He sighed and admired her flawless picture once more before concealing the picture safely in his pocket, once done he gazed up at the statue.

"Thanks" he whispered giving her a gentle pat, (Not on anywhere indecent!) and then turned towards the balcony banister, leaning on it and trying to collect his thoughts.

Hazard stared off into space in silence, his thoughts swam with what he had just imagined and now a deep sadness had began to fill him.

The tyrant sighed and hung his head, closing his golden eyes as his thick black bangs fell over his face… it was difficult not to think of this stuff.

His subconscious gave Hazard the mental equivalent of a pat on the back, 'Don't worry we will escape and find a friend at some point… you just have to hold on Hazard' It whispered trying to soothe him.

'I know its just… what if I don't escape… what if I end up like that girl… what's-her-name Lisa… she's probably dead by now but she was most likely stuck here for years and never escaped' Hazard thought sadly as his head lowered onto his crossed arms depressively.

'No offence to her, but we are far stronger then a young girl. We can escape through our strength and resolve… because lets face it, we are not gonna die here' His subconscious spat in fury.

Hazard nodded feeling his spirits lift as he his subconscious's words gave him fresh resolve. He thumped a fist onto the banister feeling it splinter under the force and snarled at the world around him.

"I are not gonna die here" he growled.

'Damn right!' His subconscious yelled

"I am Hazard, I am strong, and I will not die here!" Hazard roared defiantly, his words echoed around him in affirmation and the tyrant flexed his claws as the rage build up in him.

His ears twitched as Hazard heard shuffling behind him and spinning round to look towards the statue he saw the zombie had left its post (probably due to all his ranting) and was only a few meters from him.

The zombie moaned and stretched out its hands towards him as drool cascaded from its mouth and broken teeth.

Hazard smiled pleasantly at the approaching zombie and stepped forward.

Lisa froze as she heard the shouted words echo around the mansion, her head cocked to one side and her many faces looked around her as she listened intently to the reverberating words.

"I am Hazard?" Lisa murmured in question, was that the creatures name?

Strange choice but still she supposed it had some relevance to it, that creature had been a hazard to her mental health ever since she first set eyes on it.

She dug into her memory replaying the words in her head trying to understand what he had said; another benefit of the virus in her body was a very good memory when it came to hunting situations.

She ignored the 'I am strong' part, what did she care for a males showing off? The 'I will not die here' got a quirk of an eyebrow from her. When they meet again she would decide that for herself.

What was important was that she pinpoints the location of the sound as quickly as possibly.

Years of hunting prey with the barest of sounds to guide her made this creatures foolish shouting easy to determine, she smirked in triumph, he was on the second floor balcony on the left side of the mansion.

She glanced at the undead hound that was thrashing furiously in her grasp, the dog had tried to attack her alone and now it was at her mercy as her tentacles held it in a steel grip of superhuman strength.

The girl's eyes looked around her quickly but amongst the crumbling headstones of the mansions small outdoors graveyard no aid was rushing to the barking dogs assistance.

Her amber eyes returned to the dog struggling in her tentacles and a small smile grew across her lips as she slowly applied more pressure on the frantic animal.

The dogs snarling became a whine as it began to feel the crushing force on its body; its senses though dulled by the viral infection of its body were now beginning to feel the strain.

Lisa grinned openly at its weak struggles and with a short chuckle she squeezed hard with her extra limbs.

The dogs whining fell silent.

Throwing the mangled body away with dismissal Lisa shook the blackened blood from her tentacles, she watched the blood slowly drip from her limbs with silent fascination before she snapped back to reality. She glanced around the graveyard again for any sign of trouble but the place was silent save for the slow shuffling of the previous owners of the coffins, at the far end of the graveyard.

She ignored them as they ignored her and turned her back on the tombstones and headed up the stairs into the mansion, she didn't really think he would have gone here but it was worth a try.

'Now I know where he is… wonder what I'll do when we meet again?'

Images of the creature surrounded by her tentacles swam in her thoughts, she was always much more bloodthirsty after a kill. And besides… he could talk and thus scream a lot louder then the other monsters here.

She smiled at the thought and hurried after the creature hoping to catch him before he left the second floor balcony… she was looking forward to what she could do to him.

'And the maze continues to twist and turn' Hazard thought moodily as he found himself at yet another staircase, this one leading back down to the first floor.

"Its like I'm stuck in something's intestines with miles of turns and overlapping passageways" He grumbled as he leaned against the stair banister looking down the unexciting steps.

'Well then we must continue looking and map this whole beast then' Hazards subconscious said brightly ignoring its hosts scowl.

The tyrant sighed as he contemplated his position; he had come from the balcony room into this and found yet more locked doors and this stairway leading, probably, back to where he started.

"Wish there was a zombie to add some entertainment to this journey" Hazard muttered as he began to descend.

The body had lain still for many days now, the virus within it slowly mutating its host into something far more deadly.

The milky white eyes of the host staring at nothing in particular, at the moment there was no threats or food in the vicinity so the crimson had felt no urge to move from its position.

But now its repaired senses, far more advanced then its less evolved brethren, had heard the quiet muttering of something on the floor above it.

Crusted eyelids moved as the body blinked and turned its head towards the sound. Tight muscles moved with reluctance as the crimson stretched its jaws exposing brown broken teeth.

Reddened and powerful muscles rippled as the zombie levered itself up into a half crouch; its head cocked as it studied the sound intently. Its mainly instinctive brain trying to determine whether it was prey, predator, or another of its kind that was just mumbling half remembered words from a dead life.

The crimsons stance switched into a more alert and dangerous poise as it discovered that the words weren't just random sentences but sentient speech! Its eyes narrowed into glowing slits as it flexed its claws and its breathing increased as a new and wonderful feeling of impending frenzy flooded its muscles.

The crimson couldn't remember feeling so good, before it had been attacked by a Hunter it had been aware of the bliss of a feeding frenzy but that was just a twinge of hunger compared to the bloodlust that began to fill it.

It WANTED to meet its prey with claw and teeth.

It WANTED not just to eat its prey but to actually tear it apart in animalistic fury.

It WANTED to show its prey that it was the superior being!

When it saw purple feet begin to slowly descend the steps in front of it the crimson acted in an instance.

Surging across the small gap under the stairs with newly developed speed the crimson smashed its fists through the wooden steps towards its prey; its strength surprised itself as it grasped the prey's ankles in a grip of steel.

The prey yelled in surprise as the crimson heaved overbalancing the prey and pushing it down the stairs, the prey fell in a crumbled heap at the bottom dazed by the impact.

The crimson finally released the pent-up roar of rage and hunger that had been growing since it heard the prey; the sound filled the room and further heightened the crimsons bloodlust as it charged at the fallen prey.

Feeling the new power in its body it knew it couldn't lose.

"The hell!" Hazard yelled as something smashed through the steps behind his feet and gripped his ankles. He felt a surge of pain as sharp claws cut into his ankles before a powerful force pulled with undeniable strength.

He cried out in terror as the stairs suddenly rushed up to meet him and almost blacked out as his head smashed into a hard wooden step with a resounding crack.

He didn't even have time to fight the dizziness he felt before gravity kicked in and threw him down the stairs, he went tumbling down his body being battered by the hard wood of the steps before he slammed into the wall at the foot of the stairway.

Laying against the hard cold wall Hazard couldn't even move as his body screamed in pain, he groaned as he felt his bones and rips ache with every breath he took.

He tried to get back up but nausea crept up on him and he could only flop his limps about weakly and shake his head. He began to panic as he felt his body ignoring his commands due to the pain and, even worse, he could feel something warm and wet beginning to flow down his face.

Then he heard an ear-splitting roar cut through the haze of pain and Hazard felt his blood freeze and his heart pound faster.

"GET UP HAZARD! YOU MUST GET UP!" His subconscious screamed at him.

Through dazed vision Hazards eyes saw something step out from the shadows under the stairs, the golden orbs widening in terror as he recognised the enemy that had attacked him as being a crimson zombie.

The zombie was leering at him with a demonic grin and its pale white eyes were fixed on him hungrily, Hazard began to struggle with new desperation to move his body as it stalked towards him.

Once within a few meters of him the zombie crimson leapt, claws outstretched towards Hazards collapsed body, teeth aiming for his throat.

Time seemed to slow as hazard stared in paralysed horror at the crimson that practically flew through the air. Everything was terribly detailed from the powerful red muscles that grew from its withered frame, the joy that shone in its almost glowing white eyes, to the green corpse gas that bellowed from its open mouth forced out by its excited breathing.

It was as if with death so close to him Hazards mind wanted to record everything no matter how revolting.

The crimson was so close and Hazard still couldn't force his body to move as the rotted face filled his horizon as it inched closer to him. Hazard knew he had but a second before those brown decayed teeth clamped onto his neck and tore out his flesh in a brilliant red shower.

But from deep within he felt a strange, and welcome, surge of electrifying power. Something powerful, primal, and deadly had awoken in the recesses of Hazards mind and it was not at all happy with the current situation.

With a scream of hate and rage this new persona acted as the crimson charged Hazard, ignoring the pain it used the wall behind it as a crutch as it swung Hazards body upwards smashing both feet into the crimsons face and propelling it away.

The crimson staggered back and again the persona acted, not even fully on his feet Hazards body shot across the gap between it and its enemy, his tail giving him extra push off the wall as he speared the crimson across its midsection.

They both fell to the ground in a frenzy of clawing and biting, the crimson slashed Hazard across the back, he responded by tearing open its cheek, the crimson retaliated by biting deeply into his arm, Hazard countered by ripping out its ear with his fangs.

The crimson pulled back with a squeal of pain then screamed an incoherent cry of challenge at Hazard. He replied with his own roar and leapt back into the fray ignoring the crimsons claws as they tore at him and instead focusing on ripping the vile things heart out of its chest.

The crimson panicked now as it felt itself being overpowered by this insane combatant, it was tearing chunks from this creature but it didn't even care! It was as if it didn't feel pain, as every time it was slashed or bitten it would just bite back twice as hard!

The crimson decided it had had enough, bunching up its legs it kicked the crazy prey away then ran for its undead life.

Pounding down a small passageway, round a corner and to the end of the corridor it reached the door at the end feeling a very unaccustomed sense of panic.

And as it scrabbled at the door finding to its horror that the door was locked that feeling of panic grew.

"Kill"

The crimson spun round to see that its prey turned predator had rounded the corner and was standing about four meters away from the crimson. The creatures gaze was fixed on the crimsons as it snarled at the zombie and bared its blood stained fangs.

"Kill" It hissed as it flexed its dripping claws and stepped forward, every step measured and silent as it stalked its prey.

The crimson screeched and raised its claws fearfully as the creature stepped closer, every step echoing in the crimsons ears as the creatures eyes burned red.

"KILL"

Hazards first thought was 'where am I?' as he opened his eyes from his slumped position against the mansion walls.

His second thought was 'What the hell happened?' when he looked down and saw the mangled and torn body of a crimson zombie at his feet.

His third and final thought on this matter was 'Oh' when he raised his claws and saw the blood and globs of flesh that stained them.

'Don't think Hazard just walk away' His subconscious whispered quietly.

His mind numbed by the scene before him and the blank spot in his memory Hazard was grateful for direction and with some effort he turned away from the mass of blood and gore behind him and started walking.

He managed a few steps then his legs gave out, he fell to one knee as his body began to scream in pain though all Hazard could do was give a weak moan as his whole body shivered in agony.

'We know it hurts Hazard but you must move, we cannot rest here' His subconscious ordered gently.

With a weak nod Hazard forced himself to his feet, he began to sway immediately and quickly reached for the left-hand wall to steady himself.

Hesitantly he took a step forward, then another. All the while his flesh ached and his limbs wobbled but he gritted his teeth and carried on.

Strangely Hazard felt like he was in a shower, he could feel streams of wetness flowing down his body from various places and more then once he almost slipped on the strangely slick floor.

'Don't think just walk!' His subconscious yelled as his attention began to drift.

Shaking his head weakly he reached the turning and saw in the distance the stairway, he frowned as he began to remember that was were he…

'I SAID DON'T THINK! WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO THINK JUST KEEP WALKING THEN TURN LEFT!" Hazards subconscious screamed desperately.

Hazard jumped in fright as the voice echoed in his head, forcing himself to ignore the stairs he keep walking until he reached the small square area that including the place under the stairs.

"Under the stairs… something under the stairs" Hazard mumbled as he looked at the shadowy place.

"LOOK LEFT, SEE THE DOOR?"

Hazard blinked then looked to his left, a door was hidden back there and Hazard took a step forward then again felt his body weaken as he slid to the floor.

"HAZARD GET UP!" His subconscious yelled in terror.

"So tired, Hazard mumbled as his eyes began to slowly slip shut, just wanna sleep"

"IF YOU SLEEP HERE WE ARE GONNA DIE! NOW GET UP!" the voice in his skull roared at him, Hazard grumbled in protest and slowly felt the darkness begin to cloud his vision.

"HAZARD!"

Hazard didn't care anymore, if he slept he wouldn't have to feel anymore pain, see anymore nightmares, just be in someone's, like Ada's, arms forever.

He was just about to sleep forever when something slapped him across the face.

Hazard squeaked in surprise as his eyes snapped open, even above all the other wounds on his body he could still feel the stinging on his cheek. Looking around for the attacker he saw nothing but his own hand hovering in front of him, he frowned and tried to lower it but it refused his commands.

'Are you gonna get up or are we gonna have to slap you again?' His subconscious growled threateningly.

Looking in shocked surprise at his own hand Hazard mumbled a "no" and forced himself back to his feet. He may already be hurting but he really didn't want anymore pain, even if only a slap.

A few more hesitant steps and Hazard reached the door, his right claw closed around the doorknob, sliding off a few times due to the blood, and with a grunt of effort he opened the door and stumbled inside.

'Please let there be a lock' Hazard heard his subconscious pray within his head, he shut the door looking over it with heavy eyes and seeing a small bolt lock just above the knob.

'Lock it!'

Hazard complied and felt some relief as the bolt slide into place; perhaps he'd be safe now?

Examining the room he was in Hazard saw that it looked to be another chest and typewriter room, his gaze slide sleepily over some shelves with coloured bottles on them but he paid them no heed.

Instead he looked in awe at the small bed that resting against the far wall, cotton white sheets beckoned to Hazard and he quickly stumbled forward.

Reaching the bed he fell onto the mattress feeling his body continue to ache but at least he could be comfortably hurting now.

Blackened and sore eyes looked blankly at the white sheets he lay on noticing numbly that they were slowly turning red.

"Are we gonna be ok?" Hazard croaked painfully.

'We hope so' His subconscious answered solemnly.

Hazard gasped as he felt more of his lifeblood flow out of him and he closed his eyes tight not wanting to look at his injuries.

Hazard felt wetness grow behind his closed eyelids but at the moment he didn't care about crying.

"I don't wanna die" he whispered tearfully, he swallowed the lump he was feeling as he felt his consciousness slipping away.

'Rest Hazard… we will both be ok'

'Really?'

'Really'

'But what if I don't wake up?'

'… Then we shall both sleep forever in someone's arms'

Hazard gave a weak laugh that quickly stopped due to the pain.

'Just in case we don't… it's been a pleasure knowing you Hazard' His subconscious said gently.

Hazard smiled as his eyes shut and he felt himself lose his battle with sleep, as he drifted away he thought back, 'you've been a good voice in my head'.

'As have you Hazard'

And then the tyrant slipped into unconsciousness, his life in the hands of the virus within him ability to heal.

He slept on, hopefully to awake in a few hours time restored… or never to awake again.

Chapter 9.

An increasingly strange case.

"Come on Hank you sure you got nothing for me?"

"I'm telling ya Chris I haven't heard nothing, the underground's as worked up about those attacks as the damn pigs are… present company excluded of course"

"But surely there are rumours? A new group causing trouble, maybe wanting to get a reputation quickly?"

"There's always them Chris you know that, but none of them would go this far! Hell even the bosses think this is gross even old 'Eddy Gizzard'!"

"Wouldn't put this past him Hank, I know he isn't called Gizzard cause he likes the word"

"Trust me Chris he didn't too it and neither did the others. Alright maybe they'd do some messed up stuff to rivals and coppers but not to some kids and their families, not without a reason"

"You better be right 'Weasel'"

"When I have I ever let you down Chris? For a snitch I'm pretty dependable right?"

Chris Redfield eyed his questionable friend from the bear soaked table they were both siting at. Over the barely drunken foaming beer between his hands 'Weasel' was staring at Chris in a very credible expression of injured pride.

Chris wondered over his strange 'relationship' with Weasel, or 'Hank the Weasel', as he was known to his clients. The man was small, only in the mid-ranges of five feet and very skinny. His features definitely had a dash of rodent there, small intelligent eyes that darted about shiftily, thin lips, slightly pointed ears and lanky jet-black hair. His appearance was made to go unnoticed, second hand clothing mainly hues of grey and green, Hank was dressed to look like something you'd rather not beat up due to any possible contamination.

Oh yes Weasel currently looked like just another pathetic lowlife but there was where you'd be critically wrong. He was renowned on his ability to ferret out ('pardon the term Weasel') useful information.

His services were employed readily by the criminal underground; anyone with enough money and the right temperament was fine by Weasel.

He maintained a strict 'neutrality' by employing his services to anyone who asked, mob bosses who had told him to spy on a rival had to be careful that the Weasel wasn't watching their own movements for the man he was sent to follow in the first place.

In normal cases this 'double-dealing' would have a man quickly face down in the first gutter his killers found but Weasel had avoided this by being so damn good at his profession.

The Weasel always delivered, admittedly he also delivered to your enemies but if he found some dirt on you it was your own fault for being careless.

Because of this many of the more influential bosses hired Weasels services and Hank always delivered the goods or 'You can cut my own throat', thankfully for Weasel no one had yet had a reason to try that generous offer.

Chris had met him a year ago when he had been planning a raid on drugs nests downtown. While on stakeout of one of them he had seen Hank dragged in bound, gagged, and decided that it probably wasn't a friendly idea of a joke and had hurried in after him.

After the firefight, and subsequent running through the streets on account of there being twenty thugs chasing them, he had discovered, as Hank panted out his story while running, that the whole thing had been due to 'some people not able to take things lightly'.

Apparently Hank had been told by the guy in charge of the drug warehouses to find out what produce his rival dealer was developing in his own warehouse a few blocks away. Hank had found out, and then offered to tell the rival what his employer was making for a small fee, and then taken the liberty, unnoticed, to sabotage the drug labs while inside and put back the sale of that drug by several weeks.

As far as Hank was concerned he'd done his original employer a favour. He'd made some extra cash and so what if the Mexican drug-lord wannabe knew what drugs Hanks employer was selling, his own production wouldn't be ready for weeks and by then Hanks employer would have flooded the market.

But unfortunately his employer didn't see it that way, he had congratulated Hanks 'excellent' work and paid him generously, Hank had been suspicious but when nothing happened for a few days he dismissed it.

Then a week after the job several very strong, and armed, men had smashed through his motel door and knocked him senseless. He had been blindfolded, bundled into a bag and drove around for a bit then when he had the blindfold removed found himself in the warehouse again. He was tied to a chair with a man wearing a surgeon's apron in front of him holding a very sharp-looking scalpel in his gloved hands.

Things would have gone very bad, and incredible painful, for the Weasel if Chris hadn't kicked down the door and started firing.

After that Chris had dragged the truth out of Weasel, some handy video recordings of Hank in the warehouse's security footage had helped with that.

However Chris had seen the use of a man like Weasel and had 'employed' the spy-ish character on a "Whenever I damn well call Mr Weasel" basis.

The deal was this, Hank helped Chris out with whatever he needed, and the infamous career of the Weasel wouldn't end behind bars.

Thus far it was actually working out.

"So basically no one knows what's going on, even you?" Chris asked irritably, usually he found out at least 'something' from Hank.

"Come on Hank… surely you've heard something?"

"I'm sorry Chris but I haven't" Hank answered quickly, Chris frowned as he looked into Hanks darting eyes, the Weasel was scared.

Hank squirmed uneasily in his chair Chris noticed, he also saw that the mans long fingers were trembling slightly.

"You do know something…" Chris whispered staring into Weasels nervous eyes, the informant started as if slapped and met Chris's steely gaze.

"I can't say nothing Chris this is more then mere mobs man!" The little man pleaded, his hands were almost clasped in a poise of begging.

"Tell me Hank" Chris said curtly, the man continued to shiver slightly, his nerves shaken, hesitant to answer.

"Come on Hank… these people were EATEN. Something has to be done and if you know something that can help then you KNOW you should tell me" Chris said carefully. Despite his profession Hank was generally a good guy, he knew where the line was.

"I don't know how much this will help," Hank said to himself, glancing around him for eavesdroppers the Weasel leaned closer. "There's been a lot of action down by the suburbs lately, been building up for the last few weeks, after the attacks its been getting much more hectic" He whispered confidently.

"What kind of action?"

Weasels eyes narrowed, "The secret kind, first whiff of trouble they're gone in a flash but they don't go for long… they're very interested in the forest and Arkly mountains"

"Why?"

Hank shrugged, "No idea, they're tight like a crabs ass. Ain't no way of infiltrating them but I'll tell you this mate, at this Hanks voice became deadly serious, they ain't crooks, nor are they coppers, with their high-tech gear I'd say government"

Chris frowned as he considered this interesting information, the government? Or at least an obscure branch was interested in this case? Why? And also if it's the case then why have they been there before the murders?

"Your sure Hank?" Chris asked as he sat back in his chair in thought, again the Weasel looked affronted, "I had to bust my balls for even that Chris! They don't like people skulking around there" He said with a small shiver.

Chris nodded and took a gulp of his beer, the bitter taste helping him concentrate as the alcohol flowed into his system. Obviously there was more to this case then first appearances hinted, if some serious players were taking an interest then Chris knew that STARS were missing something.

'This case is more important then any of us' Chris frowned as Weskers words played across his mind, the guy must know something about those people, it was the only explanation for Weskers strange mood.

"Where are they Hank?" Chris shot at his informant, the man took a deep pull of his own beer then screwed up his face in concentration.

"Down by the suburbs near the old caravan trail up the Arkley Mountains, you know that one that closed awhile ago due to those accidents up in the mountains. Raccoon River runs right next to it mate"

Chris nodded and gave this some thought too, he'd been reading the files on the case and the small community that was attacked was just a few kilometres from that place.

'If the gang are operating in the mountains then I'm willing to bet a tenner that's where they come down from' Chris thought as he finished his beer.

"Ok Hank you've given me more then I hoped mate and I think that deserves an extra" Chris said grudgingly to his informant, the mans suspicious look vanished when Chris put a hundred on the table between them.

"Cheers mate!" Weasel exclaimed happily as he dived for the note, as he grabbed it Chris's hand locked on his holding him in place.

Chris smiled pleasantly, "However if you want to truly earn this your gonna have to come with me tonight to this camping trip the men in black are holding"

Weasel shook his head fiercely while what colour he had drained from his face, "No mate no! I'm all for spying from a distance but I ain't double o seven man, those guys mean business!"

Chris scowled at the trapped man, "Did I say you had a choice in the matter?" He asked warningly.

"I never said I'd die for you Chris!"

"You'll get another hundred" Chris spat. He knew he had Weasels attention by the sudden thoughtful, but still scared, look in his eyes.

"Two"

Chris just glared into Weasels small eyes; 'Don't push it' was the silent message.

Weasel gnawed his lip in indecision, truthfully Chris knew he couldn't force this if Hank really wanted out, he wasn't gonna risk a mans life without the guys permission… but he needed Hanks help.

Weasel sighed and gave a sullen shrug of his shoulders, "Don't know why the fuck I listen to you, fine Chris tonight I'll show you and… go in with ya"

But after this he stabbed a finger at Chris with his other hand warningly, "But if we get in serious shit Chris my ass is out of there! Ok?"

Chris smiled and let go off his friend, the hundred-dollar note vanished into Hanks pockets in a second, "Thanks mate" Chris said earnestly.

Hank scowled at Chris but didn't say anything.

Chris glanced at his watch. Shit he was late!

"Hank, I'll meet you at my place tonight at eleven ok? I don't need to tell you where I live do I?" Chris asked with a light smile.

Hank snorted in amusement, "Not at all Chris… I'll see you then"

The little man finished his beer with a quick gulp, coughed, then struggled into his worn, ragged coat. He waved a short goodbye to Chris who nodded back and then the Weasel vanished into the bars smoky atmosphere.

"Wish I knew how he does that" Chris muttered as he stared into the cigarette generated fog of the bar, Hank had a way of disappearing even in plain sight.

Chris sighed and quickly pulled his own coat round him, nodding at the barmen who nodded back a farewell (Chris came in here often) Chris left and walked out into the city streets.

Chris breathed deep of the crisp cold air outside as around him the life of the city continued and Chris took a few moments to gaze at the bustling metropolis.

Raccoon City, though very large, had never gained as much fame as New York or Washington; it was a minor city due to its seclusion in the shadows of the Arkley Mountains but Chris was happy to call this place home.

Heavy traffic filled the streets around him; the sound of swearing and horns brought a grin to Chris's face. Aged buildings with bare brickwork stretched for miles in ordered rows, trash and garbage covered the lanes and graffiti was scrawled across any bare surface.

In the darkness of night the city shone like a beacon as neon lighting blazed out their messages wherever Chris looked, he glanced to his right at the crimson glow that bathed the streets a few yards away and wondered how business was going for the ladies.

'Hell with the cold of winter a lot of guys probably feel they need warming up' Chris thought with mirth.

He swore when his watch's alarm cried out again and Chris quickly ran for his car, Barry is gonna go spare when he finally got to the meeting place.

Then he remembered that Jill would be waiting too so Chris thought 'to hell with it', plunked his revolving light on the roof of the car, and started up his siren.

His dad had told him never to make a pretty girl wait and as Jill was a fucking goddess, as in a hot body and smart too, he should have got there a day early!

Barry looked up from his beer as he heard sirens approaching, police issue not fire or paramedics.

Glancing out of the frosted windows of the 'Pissed Eagle' pub he saw a squad car come to a screeching halt outside the entrance, it barely stopped in time and almost collided with the car in front.

Barry smirked as the owner of the almost hit car dived out of his chair and dashed outside swearing furiously at the officer just climbing out of his car, the cop glancing at the Porsche that he almost hit and waving off the mans accusations.

When the man continued to yell despite the fact the squad car hadn't hit the Porsche the officer began to yell back obviously stating he had not damaged the mans car.

When it seemed like the man wouldn't shut up despite the cop showing him his badge the officer gave a weary sigh and lashed out with his fist.

Barry winced as the man was smashed back against the window and began to slide down limply, before he hit the ground the cop caught him and helped direct him inside the pub the man weakly holding his bleeding nose.

He helped the man onto a stool next to the bar, asked the bartender to see to the guys nose (paying him for the trouble) then pressed a note into the gob-smacked Porsche owners hand and offering him a free drink.

Barry coughed to disguise his laugh as the cop gave the man a pat on the shoulder and began to walk over to Barry.

Barry quickly adopted a look of stern disapproval as Chris grinned at him meekly.

"Bout bloody time you turned up!" He growled.

Chris held his hands to ward off his friend as Barry glowered at him; "I'm sorry Barry I got held up, police business you know?" he pleaded.

Barry just grunted though Chris could see a hint of amusement in Barry's grizzled features, not for the first time Chris wondered how long Barry went between shaves.

"So can a guy get a drink here? Cause I got a lot to tell you Barry" Chris said as he took a seat at Barry's table, the older man gave Chris a questioning look as he counted out some change.

"Been to see Hank, he told me a lot of interesting stuff"

Barry snorted, "Don't know why you trust that guy Chris" Barry said with disapproval.

Chris shrugged his shoulders, "He's ok once you get over the creepiness, besides we have a good working relationship" Chris said with dismissal.

He glanced around curiously then looked up at Barry questioningly, "Hey wasn't Jill supposed to be here?" He asked feeling a little concerned.

"She's right behind you smarty-pants" A soothing voice said with a trace of amusement behind him.

Chris quickly turned in his seat and felt his mental processes stop, which was quite normal whenever he saw Jill out of uniform.

The beautiful brunette was standing behind him looking down at him impishly; Chris swallowed hard as he gazed at her choice of clothing.

She was wearing a tight low cut blue top that exposed her pale shoulders and neck. Chris gulped as he saw the curves of her breasts pressing against the fabric enticingly.

His eyes slid lower examining the short, white skirt she was wearing appreciatively, it was bordered by a brown stripe and looked ok but what Chris really liked was the sight of her long pale legs that demanded attention.

Her feet were encased in long brown 'cowgirl' boots but without spurs… all in all she was fucking gorgeous to look at.

"Seen everything?" Jill asked, her eyes sparkled with mirth as she saw Chris's flustered look.

"Bloody hell Jill you look great!" Chris exclaimed trying to get his hormones under control, 'In a public place, in a public place, in a public place!'

Jill tilted her head smiling at Chris pleasantly, "Why thank you" she said sweetly.

Barry smirked at his friend's gob-smacked look. He had to admit that Jill looked breathtaking, and judging by Chris's hungry stare he agreed.

Barry also could tell that Jill was enjoying the attention too, well good for them they've had a crush on each other for ages now.

"I'll grab us some drinks" he said loudly and quickly hurried to the bar, his movements snapping Chris and Jill out of their staring contest.

"How long where you behind me?" Chris asked suspiciously as Jill took a seat next to him, she folded her legs comfortably and Chris had to fight to stop his drooling.

"Oh not long, so what took you so long to get here?" Jill asked with some reproach.

Chris squirmed in his seat with guilt, "I'm sorry Jill I was talking to Hank and I lost track of time".

Jill waved it away, "Don't worry about it, so what did Hank have to say?"

Chris sighed and rubbed the back of his head distractedly, "Lots of weird stuff, it seems that its not just the usual subjects who are interested in this case"

"How do you mean?"

"Lets wait till Barry gets back I'll tell you both then"

The two STARS passed the next few minutes chatting amiably, Chris tried not to let anything show on his features but inside his mind was in turmoil.

'Some shady players are interested in the killings'

'God she looks beautiful'

'Yeah but there's obviously something Wesker knows… perhaps I should talk to him?'

'Gotta resist touching her legs, damn they're so smooth and sexy'

"God dammit shut up in there" Chris muttered quietly as he clutched his head, At Jill's questioning look he mumbled "headache" and looked towards the bar for Barry.

He almost sighed in relief when he spotted the big man forcing his way through the crowd around the bar towards them; he clutched a beer in each hand and a third clamped between his teeth.

"That's yours now Barry" Jill laughed as she pointed towards the glass hanging from Barry's mouth. The older man released an amused grunt as he handed them their beers and took a seat, spitting out his own glass with a "Pleah!"

"Glad to be an amusement to you guys" Barry growled, but without menace, as Jill and Chris chuckled at their friend.

"Sorry mate we just haven't seen your juggling act for ages" Chris said, digging at him lightly.

Barry smiled back, "So what's the news everyone?" He asked after taking a sip of his drink.

Jill glanced at Chris, who nodded back and went first, it took a few minutes to relate the information Hank had given him, and he wasn't surprised at the looks of outrage from his friends.

"God damn bastards! I'll bet anything whoever's out there knew about this group long before the attacks happened!" Barry practically roared in anger, getting a few stares from the drinkers around them.

Chris quickly shushed his friend, "Barry calm down! Listen I don't doubt they probably know something but we have to make sure before we start pointing fingers! Me and Hank are gonna go down there tonight and check it out anyway" Chris said reassuringly.

Jill had remained silent with a thoughtful expression during Chris's briefing but now she appeared to come to some kind of conclusion, "Actually Chris I do think this is serious, what you've just said has given me some ideas about what I learned at the coroners"

The two men looked at her questioningly and Jill leaned closer, "I went to see my informant Aran Taylor, he's one of the city morticians who is… happy to give out knowledge to those who ask with cheques". Jill shrugged at Barry and Chris's suspicious looks; "He's trustworthy as long as you pay well. Anyway I asked him if I could see one of the victims as, as you know, the bodies have been deemed hazardous so no one except special teams are to survey them and we, the people who ARE investigating the case, can only read what they filed in their reports." Chris scowled at this and Barry swore about "Bloody politics" but Jill continued after the outburst. "Anyway I was hoping that in Aran's case money would show me the path but he couldn't help and was very regretful considering I had a lot on me. Apparently the bodies have been removed from the civilian departments control and moved to some 'top level' facility that no one seems to know about". At this she looked at Chris grimly, "As you can see this info about secret groups near the forest made me wonder about this"

Chris nodded in thought while Barry eyed Jill shrewdly, "Is that all you managed to get?" He asked disappointed.

Jill looked at him haughtily, "I'm disgusted you had to ask that" she said primly then smiled, reached into her handbag and pulled out a yellow folder, and dropping it between them.

"This should interest you" was all she said.

Barry quickly tore it open and pulled out a few printed pictures that he laid on the table, the three STARS looked at them in silence for a few seconds before Chris looked up at Jill with a look of disgust and said, "What the HELL is it?" He asked horrified.

Jill sighed and glanced down at the picture Chris pointed out, she shrugged mutely and said, "Apparently THAT is the one of the killers"

The three STARS eyes returned to the picture and stared in revulsion at the image. It showed a body laid out on a metal slap in a morgue, but while the STARS had seen some pretty grisly dead bodies this surely won the prize.

It was a man but he looked as if he had been decomposing for the better part of a year, the flesh was peeling from his skin exposing muscles and sinew that, for some strange reason, were all a bright red as if they had been dyed.

What was worse was his face, his lips drawn back into a snarl revealing rotten brown teeth and diseased gums. The skin and muscles wasted and thin so that the face looked like a grinning skull.

What was worse in the STARS eyes was the mans own, his eyes were wide and staring, completely white even the pupils and despite being dead they could almost see a sense of hunger in the dead orbs.

"This is the killer? It looks like it's been dead for years!" Barry yelled in disbelief.

"Look at his hands" Jill replied calmly, the men complied and stared in confusion at the long claws that grew out of the dead mans nails.

"What the-?" Chris began.

"The victims tissue and blood were found on them, that's how we know it was the killer… also when its… stomach, was cut open flesh was found inside that matched DNA with the victims" Jill interrupted, swallowing in revulsion afterwards.

"I thought you said the bodies were taken away before they could be properly examined?" Barry asked with confusion.

Jill nodded, "Yes but Aran and his colleges had time to do some tests and observation before the bodies were removed, they were also told to hand over any notes or files they made on the bodies but luckily for us Aran decided to make a copy of his"

She pointed towards the photos of the victims and the killer, "Notice anything they all share? Other then being a mess," Jill said with a weak attempt at humour.

Chris spotted it first, "They all have a gunshot wound in the head?"

Jill smiled, "And as a professional marksmen what else can you see Chris?"

Chris frowned and examined the pictures carefully, doing his best to ignore the silent screams and looks of terror on the victims, and quickly saw the hidden clue.

"It was all done surgically, he said slowly, a precise shot through the centre of the brain that would instantly kill"

Barry frowned, "Were the victims shot before being eaten, god I really hope so, and then the killer shot… himself?"

Jill shook her head, "This is were it gets confusing, according to Aran the victims were already dead when they were shot… as for the killer Aran believes, though its difficult to tell considering the state he's in, the gunshot was what killed him actually"

"But he looks almost a year dead Jill! Bodies don't rot to that state in just a few days" Barry said shaking his head unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Believe it or not Barry but Aran tells me that, however impossible, rigor mortis only set in after he was on the slab, and despite the look of the guy his muscles were in very good condition. This… THING! Could have thrown you across this room Barry" Jill said firmly.

Jill sighed and clutched her hands together nervously, "There's more"

Chris gave a weak laugh, "Hit me when I'm down Jill, ok what is it?"

"There was something else on the victims that wasn't in the original report, some kind of mutagen that was found in the victims flesh mainly around where they were bitten… and a hell of a lot of the stuff in the killers own body"

Chris stared into the distance consulting memory, "Rebecca mentioned something like this" he said slowly.

Jill nodded, "That's what made me ask Aran about it, he said he had no idea of what it was but after it was discovered was when the examination was clamped down and the bodies taken. Unfortunately a sample of the virus, that's what it most resembled, was something Aran couldn't keep"

Barry gulped down a generous measure of beer and sat back glaring into the distance, "So we have a killer who looks dead but wasn't until yesterday, top secret guys in the hills, an unknown virus in the victims and killer… and a definite conspiracy around the whole case"

He took another gulp of his beer and thumped the table angrily, "Why'd it have to happen in THAT part of the suburbs" he muttered to himself.

Jill and Chris exchanged looks, "Barry what's bugging you man, you've been on edge since this morning" Chris asked carefully.

Barry gave him a dirty look, "Come on Chris its not that hard to fucking work it out" He hissed.

Chris almost felt himself rise as his temper flared but he quickly clamped down on it, something was wrong.

Barry sighed and covered his eyes with a big hand, "I'm sorry Chris I'm just really worked up" He lowered his hand and Chris and Jill were shocked to see wetness in his eyes.

"Barry-" Jill began in concern

"I live just a block from the attacks guys!" Barry practically wailed, "My little girls school was just a few yards from those poor bastards homes!" his voice now rising to a roar.

Chris and Jill were shocked into silence, why hadn't they realised?

"Barry its gonna be all right" Chris said trying to calm his friend.

Barry spun round and fixed Chris a piercing glare, "DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP CHRIS! ALL I WANNA DO IS FIND THE BASTARDS WHO DID THIS! I WILL NOT-" He stopped noticing the crowd staring at him and opened and shut his mouth wordlessly before collapsing in his chair.

"Cannibals near my girls… fucking hell" he whispered.

Jill reached across and laid a hand on Barry's tugging on it gently to make him look at her, "Barry we will find the people responsible for this and bring them to justice, together we can do it" She said quietly.

Chris leaned across placing a consoling hand on Barry's shoulder, "Listen mate if your really worried I can ask around for you and see if one of the other STARS or a friend has space for them to lodge until the coast is clear"

Chris paused for thought, "I'd offer my own too if nothings available but I don't think your wife will go for you all sleeping on a single bed" He said with a light grin.

Barry looked at his two friends and shook his head with a smile growing across his lips, "Thanks a lot guys" he whispered.

He then glared at Chris, "I've already found them a hotel but I know what you were really thinking, no way is my wife gonna share your bed Chris even if your not in it!"

Chris recoiled, babbling denials; no way was he thinking that! But then Barry grinned and gave him a light thump on the arm.

"Just messing around pal"

Jill shook her head in amusement as the boys argued then quickly slapped then both round the ears to get their attention.

"OW!"

"Jill what?"

"I have to go," she said quickly.

"What's up?" Chris asked.

"I promised Rebecca I'd meet her tonight for a girls night out, we both have some more important stuff to talk about too" said Jill as she stood up and tucked away her chair.

"What important stuff?" Barry asked curiously, Jill merely smiled and tapped her nose secretly.

Chris raised his glass in salute to her as Jill made a move, "Have a good time Jill and I'll have some painkillers for you in the morning, just in case of course" he quipped with a grin at her indignant look.

She smiled back at him sweetly, "I'll be sure to drink to you Chris, she leaned over and patted him on the head, enjoy your secret, dangerous snooping around tonight while I drink and party"

"All you have to do is ask and you can tag along, watch how the men do things" Chris teased while beside him Barry choked on his beer while laughing.

Jill stared down at him imperiously, "Maybe next time Chris, besides I can watch men make fools of themselves every day of the week"

She said goodbye to Barry and Chris, and made to walk away. She stopped a few steps away from the table and quickly doubled back ignoring Chris and Barry's confused looks.

Before he could react Jill leaned down and gave Chris a quick peck on the cheek, despite himself he couldn't stop his blush or his shocked, but pleased look.

"Be careful out there ok?" Jill said with just a hint of pleading, her twin sapphire eyes gazing into his own with worry.

Chris gulped as he stared into her concerned face, "Y-yeah I'll be fine" he stuttered. Then he remembered he WAS a man, "I can handle whatever they got Jill" he said with a cocky smirk.

Jill eyed him wearily and Chris could tell she was thinking 'yeah right' but she didn't press comment, she smiled at him breathed a soft "Take care" and turned on her heel and walked away.

Chris couldn't speak and to be honest wouldn't want to spoil the moment with words, he just stared in mute amazement as Jill left the pub gazing in awe at her magnificent body.

When she turned and glanced at him one last time Chris could see the still remaining look of worry on her angelic face, 'god she really does care for me' Chris thought in astonishment.

"Don't worry" he whispered hoping she caught the words by his lip movements. She must have cause she nodded at him, shot a fleeting smile then stepped out into the city disappearing into the streets.

Barry finished his drink, "God reminds me of when me and Jess where first going out" He said with a smile of fond remembrance.

"What?" Chris asked still staring towards the exit.

Barry laughed and slammed his hand on Chris's shoulder, "You'll figure it out man, come on I gotta get home I promised the girls and you'll need some rest before tonight"

Chris nodded silently and quickly finished his beer and stood up, the two men glanced at the photos still littering the desk then exchanged looks.

"You take them, Barry said curtly, I don't wanna risk my girls seeing them"

Chris nodded and quickly placed the photos back in their folder and tucked it under his arm; the two men exited the pub stopping outside for their farewells.

"Listen… if you want some help I suppose I can come with you tonight-" Barry began to say.

Chris waved him off, "I'm ok Barry, your family needs you more then me, he smiled at his friend, besides I do have Hank with me"

Barry scowled at the mention of the name but didn't comment instead he jabbed a finger into Chris's chest, "Just make sure you're in the station tomorrow, cause if your not me and half the force are gonna storm that place regardless of what government branch is there" Barry growled. Judging by the fiery look in his eyes Chris guessed that Barry needed little reason lately to start a fight.

"I'll be alright Barry" Chris said confidently, he pointed towards the street, "Now bugger off and see Jess and the girls, you're starting to bug me" He said with a smirk.

Barry shook his head in amusement then walked off into the dark crowded city streets, Chris saw him wave when he was a few yards away and responded quickly before Barry disappeared in the crowd.

A few seconds later Chris was alone except for the groups of people going about their business, Chris shivered in the cold air and quickly made for his car.

He had a few hours till he and Hank checked out that group in the suburbs.

And hopefully he'd be able to find some more clues to the intricate puzzle this case had become.

Ok this is not the end of act two just part 1. This is because the whole of act 2 is just too long it seems to be uploaded to (or the crappy internet café computer just can't handle it) So I'm splitting this submission into two parts.

Please click to the next window to read the rest and hopefully your still interested enough to do so at this point J.